
Class SK_3J3_ 

Book . H 11 

CopyiightN" 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



OUR FEATHERED GAME 



mT'ir" 







PARTRIDGE SHOOTING — SCATTERED BIRDS 



OUR FEATHERED GAME 

A HANDBOOK OF THE 
NORTH AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 



BY 

DWIGHT W. HUNTINGTON 



WITH EIGHT FULL-PAGE SHOOTING SCENES IN COLOR 
AND ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE BIRD PORTRAITS 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
NEW YORK :::::::::: 1903 



THE I Li-. . L f 


Two Copies Kecoiver 


JUN 27 \909 


ft Copyiight ttixiy 
cUsS <l XXr Nr, 


COPY B. 






Copyright, 1903, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published, June, 1903 



THOW DIRECTORY 

PRINTrNQ AND BOOKBINDINO COMPANY 

NEW YORK 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

I. Introduction = . i 

II. Guns and Dogs 9 

III. Game Clubs, Parks, and Preserves . . 20 



BOOK I 
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 
IV. Gallinaceous Birds 41 

PHEASANTS 

V. The Wild Turkey 46 

VI. The Pheasants 52 



GROUSE 
VII. The North American Grouse , 
VIII. The Prairie-Grouse .... 
IX. The Sharp-Tailed Grouse . 
X. The Sage-Cock — Cock of the Plains 
XI. The Ruffed-Grouse .... 
XII. The Dusky- or Blue-Grouse 

XIII. The Canada-Grouse, Spruce-Grouse, or B 

Grouse 

XIV, The Ptarmigan 



60 
65 
73 
83 
88 
96 

ACK- 

100 
103 



PARTRIDGES 
XV. The Partridges ... = ... 106 

XVI. Bob-White 109 

XVII. The California Partridges . . . .125 
XVIII. The Southwestern Partridges . . . 133 



VI 



CONTENTS 



BOOK II 



WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 



XIX. The Wild-Fowl, or Swimmers 
XX. The Wild Swans 
XXI. Wild Geese 
XXII. Other Wild Geese . 

XXIII. The Snow-Geese, Brant, Etc 

XXIV. Tree-Ducks 



139 
145 
148 

153 
156 
160 



SEA-DUCKS 

XXV. Sea-Duck Shooting 161 

XXVI. The Canvas-Back . . c . . , 171 

XXVII. The Red-Head 181 

XXVIII. The Scaup-Ducks 186 

XXIX. The Golden-Eye and Oiher Sea-Ducks . 192 
XXX. Old-Squaws, Coots, and Eiders . . .197 



RIVER DUCKS 

XXXI. RivER-DucK Shooting 

XXXII. The Mallard . 

XXXIII. The Dusky Ducks . 

XXXIV. The Teal . 
XXXV. The Wood-Duck 

XXXVI. Other River Ducks 



204 
208 
220 

225 

233 
236 



MERGANSERS 
XXXVII. The Mergansers 



241 



CONTENTS vii 

BOOK III 

SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 



PACK 



XXXVIII. The Shore Birds or Waders . , -247 

XXXIX. The Woodcock ...... 252 

XL. The Snipe 268 

XLI. The Bartramian Sandpiper — Upland 

Plover e 283 

XLII. Bay Bird Shooting 287 

XLIII. Other Snipes and Sandpipers . . , 294 

XLIV. The Plovers 307 

XLV. Other Varieties of Shore Birds. . , 316 



BOOK IV 

CRANES, RAILS, AND REED BIRDS, WILD 
PIGEONS AND DOVES 

XLVI. The Cranes - 323 

XLVII. The Rails and Reed Birds . . , . 327 
XLVIII. Wild Pigeons and Doves . = . . 334 

APPENDIX ...,.... = . 347 

INDEX 391 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



SHOOTING SCENES IN COLOR 
From original drawings by D. W. Huntington. 



Partridge Shooting — Scattered Birds . 

Grouse Shooting on the Prairie . 
Shooting Sage-grouse in the Desert . 
A Difficult Shot at a Ruffed-grouse . 

Shot behind him 

Shooting Canvas-backs at Ragged Island 
Cock Shooting, late in the Day 
Snipe Shooting in the Marshes 



Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

68 
84 
92 
148 
176 
258 
280 





BIRD 


PORTRAITS 




Plate I 


A t End 0/ Volume 

Plate III 


turkeys and pheasants 




grouse 


I. 

2. 

3- 


English Pheasant. 
Mongolian Pheasant. 
Wild Turkey. 

Plate II 




10. 
II. 
12. 


Ptarmigan, Winter. 
Ptarmigan, Summer. 
Sage-cock. 

Plate IV 

PARTRIDGES 


4- 
5- 
6. 


grouse 
Prairie-grouse. 
Heath-hen. 
Sharp-tailed Grouse. 




13- 

14. 

15- 
16. 


Scaled-partridge. 
California Partridge. 
Gambel's Partridge. 
California Mountain 


7- 
8. 

9- 


Ruffed-grouse. 
Dusky-grouse. 
Canada-grouse. 




17- 
18. 


tridge. ^^„*^ 
Bob-white, •c^"'*'^ 
Massena Partridge. 



Par- 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



rLATK V 
SWANS 

19. Whistling Swan. 

20. Trumpeter Swan. 

ri^ATK VI 
GKESE 

21. Cackling Goose. 

22. Hutchins (ioosc. 

23. Canada Goose. 

Plate VII 

GKESE ANV BRANT 

24. Black Brant. 

25. Brant-goose. 

26. Emperor Goose. 

27. Ross Snow-goose. 

Plate VIII 

GEESE AND TREE-DUCKS 

28. Lesser Snow-goose. 

29. Blue-wing Goose. 

30. While-fronted Goose. 

31. Greater Snow-goose. 

32. Fulvous Tree-duck. 

33. Black-bellied Tree-duck. 

Plate IX 

SEA-DUCKS 

34. Canvas-back Duck. 

35. Ring-neck Duck. 

36. Labrador Duck. 

37. American Scaup-duck. 

38. Lesser Scaup-duck. 

Plate X 

SEA-DUCKS AND MERGANSERS 

39. Red-head Duck. 

40. Buffle-head Duck. 

41. Surf-scoter. 

42. Hooded Merganser. 

43. Red-breasted Merganser. 

44. American Merganser. 



Plate XI 

SEA-DUCKS 

45. American Golden-eye. 

46. Long-tail Duck. 

47. Harlequin Duck. 

48. Ruddy-duck. 

49. Masked Duck. 

Plate XII 

SEA-DUCKS 

50. White-winged Scoter. 

51 . King Eider. 

52. American Eider. 

Plate XIII 

RIVER-DUCKS 

53. Blue-winged Teal. 

54. Cinnamon Teal. 

55. Dusky-duck. 

56. Green-winged TcaL 

57. Wood-duck. 

58. Mallard. 

Plate XIV 

RIVER-DUCKS 

59. Widgeon (Female). 

60. Widgeon. 

61. Sprig-tail, or Pintail. 

62. Shoveler. 

63. Gad wall. 

64. Gadwall (Female). 

Plate XV 

SHORE RIRDS 

65. Wilson's Snipe. 

66. Knot. 

67. Bartrnmian Sandpiper. 

68. Dowitchcr. 

69. Woodcock. 

70. Pectoral Sandpiper. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



XI 



Plate XVI 

SHORE BIRDS 

71. Hudsonian Godwit. 

72. Marbled Godwit. 
'j'i. Black-necked Stilt, 
74. American Avocet. 



Plate XVII 

SHORE BIRDS 

75. Hudsonian Curlew. 

76. Eskimo Curlew. 
TT. Pacific Godwit. 

78. Long-billed Curlew. 



Plate XVIII 

SHORE BIRDS 

79. Willet. 

80. Ruff. 

81. Greater Yellow-Iegs. 

Plate XIX 

SHORE BIRDS 

82. White-rumped Sandpiper. 

83. Sanderling. 

84. Baird's Sandpiper. 

85. Stilt Sandpiper. 

86. Purple Sandpiper. 



Plate XXI 

SHORE BIRDS 

92. Belted Piping Plover. 

93. Piping Plover. 

94. Semipalmated Plover. 

95. Black-bellied Plover. 

96. Pacific Golden Plover. 

97. American Golden Plover. 



Plate XXII 

SHORE BIRDS 

Snowy Plover. 
Wilson's Plover. 
Surf-bird. 
Black Turnstone. 
Mountain Plover. 
Ruddy Turnstone. 



98. 

99. 

100. 

lOI. 

102. 
103. 



Plate XXIII 

SHORE BIRDS 

104. Least Sandpiper. 

105. Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

106. Aleutian Sandpiper. 

107. Curlew Sandpiper. 

108. Western Sandpiper. 

109. Wilson's Phalarope. 



Plate XX 

SHORE BIRDS 

87. Spotted Sandpiper. 

88. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 

89. Red-backed Sandpiper. 

90. Solitary Sandpiper. 

91. Wandering Tattler. 



Plate XXIV 

SHORE BIRDS 

lio. Northern Phalarope. 

111. Red Phalarope. 

112. Kill-deer Plover. 

113. American Oyster-catcher. 

114. Black Oyster-catcher. 



Xll 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate XXV 

COOT AND CRANE 

115. Coot. 

116. Sand-hill Crane. 

Plate XXVI 

CRANE 

117. Whooping CranCo 



Plate XXVIII 

PIGEONS AND DOVES 

124. Ground-dove. 

125. White-winged Dove. 

126. Mourning Dove. 

127. Red-billed Pigeon. 

128. Passenger Pigeon. 

129. Band-tailed Pigeon. 



Plate XXVII 

rails 

118. Black-rail. 

119. Yellow-rail. 

120. Sora-raiL 

121. Virginia-rail. 

122. Clapper-rail. 

123. King-rail. 



Plate XXIX 

PIGEONS, DOVES, AND BOBOLINK 

130. Zenaida Dove. 

131. Blue-headed Quail Dove. 

132. White-fronted Dove. 

133. White-crowned Pigeon. 

134. Inca Dove. 

135. Bobolink. 



OUR FEATHERED GAME 



INTRODUCTION 

SOME years ago I was shooting ducks in North 
Dakota with some army officers from Fort 
Totten. In looking over the bag one evening I found 
a number of birds which were entirely new to me. 
Several of them were not mentioned in any of the 
books on field sports. It occurred to me then that 
a book describing every game bird would be a valu- 
able addition to a sportsman's library. 

The authors of the earlier books had little or no 
experience west of the Alleghenies and many of the 
birds now taken by sportsmen were unknown to them. 
When Audubon and Wilson wrote their ornithologies 
much of the Western country was inhabited by hostile 
Indians and was inaccessible. Audubon was aware of 
the existence of the best American grouse, the sharp- 
tail, but said that he was entirely unfamiliar with its 
habits. Forester had no acquaintance with the com- 
mon prairie-grouse. All the birds are now known, 
and described, but the information is contained in 
many volumes, and is, for the most part, too technical 
to entertain sportsmen. 

There is not to-day a complete manual of the 
feathered game of North America. 



2 INTRODUCTION 

Field sport conditions have changed much. They 
are diametrically opposite those of twenty-hve years 
ago. Forester wrote of the marvellous abundance of 
game in the Eastern States, calling attention to the 
fact that there was not a game law or a game pre- 
serve in the land. With a friend he bagged one hun- 
dred and twenty-five woodcock in a day, quite near 
New York, and he records large bags of other game. 
To-day the game birds are nowhere abundant in the 
Eastern States: there is everywhere a multiplicity of 
game enactments and there are hundreds of game 
preserves. 

The abundance of game in the United States was 
truly marvellous. It was not unusual for a sportsman 
to shoot one hundred ducks in a day, and the market 
gunners often killed as many at a single shot from a 
swivel-gun. There are reliable records of over a hun- 
dred shore-birds being killed at a shot. Bogardus 
with a friend shot three hundred and forty snipe one 
day in Illinois, and the writer was present in Ohio 
when the bag contained over one hundred and fifty 
partridges (Bob-whites), besides ruffed-grouse and 
woodcock. Grouse were killed by the wagon-load. 

The prairie-grouse are extinct in many of the 
States besides Kentucky, where Audubon says they 
were regarded as pests on account of their destruction 
of the buds of the fruit trees. There are few places in 
America where one hundred ducks could be bagged 
in a day except on the marshes owned and preserved 
by clubs. 

A few years ago the shooting everywhere was free 
and unrestrained. A posted farm in the Central and 



INTRODUCTION 3 

Western States was the exception. The few game laws 
on the statute books were nowhere enforced, and the 
market gunners plied their trade unmolested, in season 
and out. Vast quantities of birds festooned the fronts 
of game-stores in all the cities, and filled thousands of 
barrels and boxes which were handled by commission 
men. 

Forester doubted if the breech-loader would ever 
come into general use on account of the inconvenience 
of the little cases in which the loads were carried. I 
spent a whole day in New York recently in a fruitless 
effort to find one of the old single muzzle-loaders to be 
used in making an illustration. The muzzle-loading 
double gun is rapidly becoming a curiosity. 

The dogs have been carefully bred for speed and en- 
durance and that quality known to sportsmen as " bird 
sense," and are now trained to the highest degree of 
perfection. The field trials of these animals, which 
had a small beginning in 1876, are to-day events of 
much importance where large purses are offered. 
There were no fewer than thirty of these competitions 
in America the past year. 

When it became evident to sportsmen that the game 
was rapidly vanishing, the legislative assemblies were 
appealed to, and we soon had many game laws. These 
were directed principally toward the shortening of the 
open season, the prohibition in many places of summer 
and spring shooting, and, most important of all, the 
prohibition of market shooting and the sale of game. 
Laws were passed limiting the size of the bag to be 
made in a day, in some States to a very small number 
of birds. Other laws provided for a license of from 



4 INTRODUCTION 

$io to $40 for non-residents and a smaller license usu- 
ally for residents. Two States prohibited the shoot- 
ing by non-residents within their borders. In addition 
to these laws, now in force almost everywhere in the 
Northern States, there are many others of less impor- 
tance, or of a local nature, such as the law in New Jer- 
sey, for example, which prohibits all shooting when 
there is a " tracking snow" on the ground. In many 
of the States the season for all game closes by the first 
of the year and opens in October or November. 

These laws were supplemented by a national law 
(known from its author as the Lacey law) which pro- 
hibits the shipment of game by interstate commerce 
wherever its sale or transportation is prohibited by 
State law. 

Since the passage of the laws prohibiting the sale of 
game in most of the Northern States, game birds are 
no longer exposed openly in the markets where such 
sales are illegal, but the laws have been evaded in 
many ways. Vast quantities of game are handled 
each season by the cold-storage warehouses. Mr. 
Starbuck, President of the Cuvier Club, one of the 
strongest game-protective clubs in the United States, 
referred in a recent address to the seizure in 1891 of 
7.931 grouse, 5,571 partridges or quail, 96 woodcock, 
1,324 ducks, 8,848 plover, 7,108 snipe, 8,328 snow-bunt- 
ings, 7,607 sand-pipers, 1,008 reed birds, and 738 yel- 
low-legs, at a cold-storage warehouse in New York, 
the penalties amounting to $1,168,315. The agents 
of the Government last fall made a seizure of five 
thousand partridges at a small station in the Chick- 
asaw Nation. President Starbuck says: " Wagon- 



INTRODUCTION 5 

loads of small game have been going out of the woods 
with astonishing frequency. The sportsmen through- 
out the country should ponder on the important facts 
which have come to light in connection with the above 
seizures. Let them consider that each large city of 
the country has many of these cold-storage ware- 
houses, in which there may be illegal game in numbers 
almost as large as was found by the above arresting 
officials ; and besides these large warehouses, there are 
many others in smaller places of less capacity." 

Mr. Hornaday, who has made a careful study of the 
decrease of bird-life and has gathered many facts to 
support his statements, estimates that thirty-three 
States and Territories, comprising three-fifths of the 
total area of the United States, show a decrease in 
the number of birds of 46 per cent, during fifteen 
years. The decrease in game birds is fully 75 per cent. 

The Agricultural Department, in a recent bulletin, 
says that the woodcock and the wood-duck are in dan- 
ger of extermination. The fact that in the great seiz- 
ure of game above mentioned but ninety-six woodcock 
were taken is significant. 

Professor Dur}- says : " The game birds of Ohio and 
the Central States are being rapidly reduced in num- 
bers, and some species to the very verge of extinc- 
tion." The ornithologist Elliot, in his recent popular 
work on the wild-fowl, says : " While engaged upon 
this book I felt that I was writing the history of a 
rapidly vanishing race." 

Forester referred to the fact that the sportsman often 
slipped out the back way, when going afield, since there 
was a prejudice among his neighbors against all sport, 



6 INTRODUCTION 

and no distinction was made between the terms sports- 
man and sporting-man. Such puritanical notions no 
longer prevail. Sportsmanship is now fashionable. 
The sportsman of to-day no longer slips out the back 
way, but travels more often in a luxurious railway car, 
especially constructed for his comfort and convenience. 
Thousands annally go to the domain of the sage-cock, 
the sharp-tailed grouse, and the plumed and crested 
partridges. 

No country in the world was so well supplied with 
feathered game. The largest and most magnificent 
pheasant in the world (the wild turkey) heads the 
list. There is a splendid assortment of grouse, includ- 
ing the second largest grouse in the world, three fine 
grouse of the open country and five wood-grouse, one 
of which, the ruffed-grouse, is often called the king of 
game birds. Bob-white is the best all around par- 
tridge, and there are five other plumed and crested 
partridges which rival in beauty those of the Old 
World. Fourteen shoal-water ducks or dabblers come 
to the marshes, including the mallard, three teal, the 
gorgeous wood-duck, the handsomest duck in the 
world, and the rest, all excellent food-birds. 

The far-famed canvas-back heads the list of twenty- 
four deep-water or sea ducks, one of which, the pied- 
duck, formerly abundant in the New York markets, is 
now unfortunately found only on museum shelves. 
There are but forty-two specimens in the world. 
The best of these are in the American Museum of 
Natural History, New York. We have a fine assort- 
ment of swans, geese, and brant. Turning to the shore- 
birds or waders, we find the splendid woodcock and 



INTRODUCTION 7 

snipe, the delicious field-plover, and more than half a 
hundred others, more or less desirable as marks or food. 
North America has (or had) more than its share of the 
wild pigeons of the world. The passenger pigeon has 
gone never to return. But the band-tail, a fine bird, 
still remains in goodly numbers on the Pacific Coast, 
and there are a number of other excellent pigeons and 
doves which are still shot by sportsmen. There are 
two edible cranes. The king-rail is a large and tooth- 
some bird, and the smaller varieties all are good to eat. 

It is with some regret that the writer has observed 
the change from the old conditions to the new. Al- 
though clubmen are everywhere cordial and hospitable 
and there are invitations enough to shoot over private 
preserves, there was a charm about the tramp over 
virgin fields when there were no game-laws, club-rules 
or restraints of any kind, not soon to be forgotten. 

At the outset we are met with the difficulty of de- 
termining what birds are game. I have decided to in- 
clude in my commentary all birds which are legally 
taken by sportsmen, save one — the robin red-breast 
(which is legally shot and devoured in some of the 
Southern States) — giving more space to those deserv- 
ing of it. There are many which I would willingly see 
protected at all times. 

My observation of the birds is from the sportsman's 
blind, or as he sees them in a tramp across the field, 
with dog and gun; a sufficient description, however, 
being given in the notes at the end of the volume 
to enable the reader to identify the species. We 
do not go to the museums to compare skins with 
the naturalists in the hope of creating a sub-species. 



8 INTRODUCTION 

but to the fields to shoot over those still open, as 
well as on club grounds and private preserves, making 
some inquiry by the way as to the natural history of 
our game, and the new methods of preservation and 
propagation. 



II 

GUNS AND DOGS 

THE advice given by Polonius, "Costly thy 
habit as thy purse can buy," applies as well to 
guns to-day as to the clothes of Hamlet's day. The 
sportsman in selecting a gun will do well to purchase 
the best he can afford. A good gun will last a lifetime. 
A cheap gun will soon wear loose at the breech, and a 
shaky gun is an abomination. The locks of a good gun 
will never miss lire, and will work with the precision of 
a costly timepiece. The barrels will not wear out or 
burst. A certain amount of good engraving about 
the locks adds to the beauty of a gun and gives it a 
finished look, but do not spend money on the fancy 
engraving of shooting scenes with impossible ducks, 
pheasants, or dogs inlaid in gold. The best guns, 
some years ago, were made in England, and a real 
good one was not to be had for less than $150 to $200. 
The guns have been much improved of late ; there 
are many excellent American makes, and a very safe 
and serviceable gun may be had from $50 up. There 
are much cheaper guns, to be sure, but I would not 
advise buying them. A gun for general shooting, 
when the sportsman has one gun only, should be 12- 
gauge ; the barrels thirty inches in length ; the weight 
seven to seven and one-half pounds. The gun should, 
of course, be hammerless, since the hammerless gun 

9 



lo GUNS AND DOGS. 

is by far the safest. Most of the accidents in the 
shooting field have been caused by the old-style gun 
with hammers. I have known of many accidents 
caused by the hammers catching when the gun was 
carelessly drawn toward the shooter in a boat or 
wagon. Many accidents have occurred by the gun 
being fired by the dog. A favorite setter sent a load 
of shot within an inch of my head. I had put the gun 
down; was holding it with one hand and about to 
open a gate when the young, enthusiastic dog, pranc- 
ing about, put one foot on the hammer, raising it high 
enough to explode the cartridge when his foot slipped 
off. 

I may say, in passing, that there should never be 
more than one gun in a duck-boat, and never a loaded 
gun in a wagon, except when the wagon is used to 
approach game, as in shooting the upland plover, and 
in that case there should be no more than one gun in 
the wagon and that always held in a safe position with 
the muzzle pointing outward. I have always insisted 
upon an inspection of the guns — all tipping them open 
to show that they are empty — when several are using 
a wagon, and will on no account shoot with a man 
who brings a loaded gun into a wagon. It is unnec- 
essary to advise a sportsman never to point a gun, 
loaded or unloaded, at a person. The penalty for a 
boy's doing such a thing should be the loss of his gun. 
It is the unloaded gun, usually, that kills a companion. 
There should never be any uncertainty as to whether 
the gun is loaded. Remove the loads in getting over 
a fence, especially if the fence be at all shaky. It is a 
safe rule always to remove them. 



GUNS AND DOGS ii 

The i6-gauge has many advocates. I have seen 
excellent work done with it, and have found it light 
and serviceable in partridge shooting. Much smaller 
bores are used, but 1 do not think well of a smaller 
gauge than i6, since there is more danger of wound- 
ing birds with small guns, and the sportsman should 
always try to kill " clean." The 14-gauge is very 
little used, but 1 have owned such a gun and am 
inclined to think it a little better for upland field 
shooting than either the 12 or 16, but the 14 is used 
so little that it is difficult in most places to get ammu- 
nition to fit it. The heavy lo-gauge was, a few years 
ago, carried in many fields, but it is seldom seen 
to-day excepting where it belongs, in the duck blinds, 
when the game is the wild geese and the heavy- 
plumaged sea-fowl. Larger guns are not found in 
the equipment of many sportsmen. They are pro- 
hibited by law in some of the States. The only 
persons who ever used the swivel-gun or cannon 
were the market gunners, and they have almost every- 
where been put out of business by legal enactments. 

It is all important in selecting a gun that it fit the 
shooter. The fit of the gun is far more important 
than the fit of the clothes. Good shooting is depend- 
ent upon it. A gun which fits is said to " come up " 
well or handle well. By that is meant that when 
it is tossed suddenly to the shoulder it will be so 
poised that the eye Avill see along the barrel and the 
aim be true without further adjustment of the gun. 
Some shooters prefer a straight stock ; others a 
crooked one. The beginner should take the gun 
which for him comes up the best. Many years 



12 GUNS AND DOGS 

ago, when I purchased my first expensive gun, 1 
named the price I expected to pay and had the 
dealer stand out some twenty or thirty guns of various 
makes, all good ones, however, and taking these one 
by one I aimed them suddenly at a small object of 
some kind in the store with both eyes opened, then 
closed one eye to see how accurate the instantaneous 
aim was. Handling the guns one after another I dis- 
carded those at once that did not come up well and 
soon had but a half dozen left. Using these one after 
another I soon found one which seemed to fit me exactly 
and which had a fine balance and was in every way 
satisfactory. With this gun I did excellent work the 
first day I went into the field for partridges. I of 
course obtained a gun by a good maker, since there 
were no bad makers represented at the start. But I 
preferred fit to maker. All the guns from which a 
selection is to be made may of course be by a desired 
maker, provided the stock be a large one ; or for that 
matter, a gun is often made to order, the measure being 
taken from a gun found to fit. The good points about 
a gun are careful workmanship, strength, and fit. 

The gun being selected, the beginner will do well to 
bring it up often unloaded, aiming it suddenly at small 
objects about the room, and then use it much at the 
inanimate targets, the clay pigeons, which are thrown 
with great velocity from the spring-traps. Do not in 
practice for field shooting stand with the gun at the 
shoulder and say " pull " to the boy at the trap, but 
hold the gun at any and all of the different positions 
in which it may be held in the field either in the pres- 
ence of game or when walking about. After giving 



GUNS AND DOGS 13 

the order to the boy to release the target pitch the 
gun to the shoulder and fire. It is often said that good 
"trap-shots " are not good " field-shots " and vice versa. 
Of course a man cannot go walking about the field 
with the butt of the gun alwa3'S at his shoulder. Hence 
he should not so hold it when shooting at the traps if 
he would become a good field-shot. He may be beaten 
at the traps by the shooter who holds his gun at his 
shoulder, but he will defeat the latter in the field. 
Much field-work, however, is necessary to make a good 
field-shot. 

In shooting at the traps I shoot much at double 
birds. The double shot in the field gives the most 
satisfaction, and to made double shots one must be 
accustomed to the quick use of the second barrel. In 
shooting at single clay pigeons I always fire the sec- 
ond barrel at any large fragment which may go sailing 
away when the first shot does not smash the target 
into the minute fragments which one likes to see. 

Books have been written about the use of guns, but 
it is most important to aim quickly ; to aim well over 
rising birds and under descending ones and far ahead 
of fast-flying marks crossing the line of sight, either 
directly or at an angle. Remember that more shots 
are missed by shooting behind than ahead of the birds. 
A few shots at ducks or shore-birds flying low over 
the water will teach the shooter much, if he looks to 
see where his shot strikes the water. The shooting at 
one duck to see another many feet behind it fall dead 
will be another lesson. It takes many lessons to make 
a fine field-shot. 

Always shoot with both eyes open. The mark is 



14 GUNS AND DOGS 

seen better and the rate at which it is moving is more 
rapidly estimated. 

I shall have something more to say about guns and 
loads in connection with the various birds in the 
proper place. 

The dogs used in upland shooting in the United 
States are usually the pointers or setters. Small span- 
iels are used to some extent for cock-shooting, but not 
so much as in England. The setter and the pointer 
are both excellent dogs. The " pointer-man" insists 
that the pointer is the only dog. The " setter-man " 
usually will have onl)^ setters. I have shot over both 
dogs, in many fields. The setters, with their silky 
coats, feathered legs and tails, to my eye, are the hand- 
somer dogs. I know of no more beautiful animal in all 
the kingdom, than a well-marked English setter. The 
long hair, I admit, collects the burrs, and the dog is 
often badly used up by them, while but few, if any, 
stick to the pointer. The pointer will go farther in 
warm weather, and without water, and he is an excel- 
lent dog for the prairie. The setter is the better dog 
in cold weather, since the pointer shivers whenever 
he is at rest and it makes one cold to look at him. 

Pointers are by some regarded as slower dogs, but 
the modern pointer of field-trial stock, will go like a 
greyhound, and is fast enough in any field. I have 
seen them keep the setters busy on the vast Western 
prairies. 

There is much talk, now that field-trials are held 
annually in all sections of the country, about the com- 
parative merits of "field-trial dogs" and "shooting- 



GUNS AND DOGS 15 

dogs." The competitive running of dogs for short 
heats and at a high rate of speed (the dogs going at 
long distances from the gun), it is argued, does not 
make good shooting-dogs. Fast wide-ranging dogs are 
often lost in the thickets and often get beyond the 
range of the whistle. But speed and endurance as 
well as " bird sense" are the qualities which go to 
make up a good field-dog, and after listening to the 
controversy until the small hours, between field-trial 
men and shooters, at the tavern, after a field competi- 
tion, I have arrived at the conclusion that the sports- 
man will do well to select for his shooting, a dog of 
field-trial stock, but one that has been especially trained, 
not for a field-trial, but to hunt to the gun, as it is 
called, or for field shooting. The slower dog, hunt- 
ing carefully before the gun, is often referred to as a 
"good meat dog." By that is meant, of course, that 
more birds will be killed over him. There is much 
force, however, in the saying of the handlers: "You 
can teach 'em to stay in, you can't teach 'em to go out." 
Give me the field-trial dog with all his energy and in- 
dustry, trained down to hunt to the gun where there is 
cover. On the vast prairies of the West, he cannot go 
too fast or too far to suit me, provided always he be 
stanch on his point and will always hold the birds 
until the wagon arrives. 

There are three kinds of setters used in America, 
the English setters, the Irish setters, and the Gordons. 
The first-named are the most popular dogs. They are 
of all colors. The black, white, and tan, and the orange 
and white dogs are to my eye the handsomest. In each 
case I like to see the head evenly marked, a broad 



i6 GUNS AND DOGS. 

white line running from the nose over the forehead 
and the legs well ticked with tan or orange. Dogs of 
medium size, rather large than too small, I like the 
best. They should, of course, be well-formed, strong 
and muscular. The Irish setters are dark red, the 
Gordons black and tan. White dogs, or dogs in whose 
coats the white predominates, are best, since they are 
more easily seen in the woods and brush. We hear 
much of " bench-show " dogs and " field-dogs." The 
dog should be handsome enough to win on the bench 
and good enough to take into the field. Field qualities, 
not looks, are of the first importance, however. One 
of the best setters I ever owned, was a liver and white 
dog, and his first owner, an excellent trainer, had mu- 
tilated him by cutting off part of his tail and named 
him Bob in honor of the occasion. In the field, how- 
ever, he was a wonder, and I could not resist buying 
him, although I liked neither his color, his tail, nor his 
name. There are many reputable dealers and many 
good trainers ; and some bad ones unfortunately, as 
among horsemen. 

Dogs of good pedigree will point birds without 
any training, and are not hard to train sufficiently to 
make good field-dogs. First of all they should be 
taught to come instantly to the whistle. Begin when 
they are quite young to have them associate the sound 
of the whistle with their liberation from the kennel, 
and as a call to meals. I have often gone to my back- 
door and sounded a whistle to see a lot of bright-faced 
puppies instantly appear at the stable windows. Hav- 
ing immediately let them out I fed them. Sometimes 
I placed the food at the other side of the house and 



GUNS AND DOGS \^ 

from thence sounded the whistle, and it was remark- 
able to see how soon the puppies learned to come when 
called. Taking them to the fields without a gun, with 
a few scraps of food in the shooting-coat, I rewarded 
the first to arrive after the whistle sounded and my 
dogs soon learned to come in as fast as they went out. 
Meantime teach the young dogs to drop or charge at 
command, rewarding them for quick action, and to walk 
at heel until ordered to go out. Taking the young 
dogs to a covey of partridges, flush the birds after the 
dogs have pointed, and check any tendency to chase 
when they take wing. Use a cord when necessar\', 
which will bring the dog up suddenly when he runs 
the length of it, and punish with the whip, using it as 
little as possible, however. Firing a pistol at some 
distance from feeding puppies will often prevent the 
dogs becoming gun-shy, a serious fault. If a heavy 
load is fired over a young thorough-bred dog before he 
is accustomed to such noise, he may be ruined. A gun- 
shy dog is usually worthless. He may be cured, but is 
more often not worth the training. Some teach their 
dogs to retrieve. It is a showy performance in the 
field and I like to see it. A dog should point the dead 
bird first and retrieve it upon an order to do so, hand- 
ling it with great care. The danger is that a dog will 
sooner or later mouth and thus mutilate the birds. 

There is much that is entertaining in giving young 
dogs their instruction, but a lot of patience is required, 
and it takes much time. All training should be persist- 
ent. A little every morning and evening, each day, 
will accomplish more than a whole day of it now and 
then. Stop when the young dogs seem to be getting 



i8 GUNS AND DOGS 

tired of it and take it up again later. Tiiey should have 
their play-time as well as their school-time. 

In England and on the Continent dogs are especially 
trained as retrievers only. Much of the shooting is 
done differently there. The birds are often driven to- 
ward the shooter by beaters or drivers, and the re- 
trieving dog is kept in until birds are shot, and then 
ordered to retrieve. . I much prefer to tramp across 
fields and to see the dogs galloping about, indus- 
triously searching for the birds, and stanchly point- 
ing them, and last of all retrieving the slain. 

The cocker-spaniels are trained to hunt close to the 
gun. They do not point, but give tongue when the 
cock takes wing. 

For wild-fowl shooting, larger retrieving spaniels are 
mostly used, and they have wonderful noses, and find 
and retrieve the dead and wounded wild-fowl in the 
heaviest rushes and reeds. 

The Chesapeake Bay dog is supposed to be a cross 
between the Newfoundland and the water spaniel. 
They are strong, heavy-coated dogs, especially suited 
to the rough work in icy waters. They will swim for 
miles among cakes of floating ice, and retrieve the 
largest wounded goose or swan. 

The beagles are small dogs resembling hounds, and 
are used like hounds in packs in shooting the hares, 
usually the small animal known as the common rabbit 
or cotton-tail. I shall refer again to the dogs and their 
use on game when considering the various birds. Let 
the beginner take the advice of some older sportsman 
in the purchase of a dog and the selection of a trainer, 
and he will not go wrong. 



GUNS AND DOGS 19 

Thoroughly broken dogs are not to be had for less 
than $100. Setter and pointer puppies of excellent 
pedigree may be purchased for $20 and up. Good 
trainers usually receive $100 or more for training a 
dog for the shooting-field or for a field trial. Sports- 
men who keep a large kennel, of course employ a 
handler by the year. A field-trial winner is often 
sold for several thousand dollars, and his services at 
the stud are $25 or $50, more often the last-named 
amount if he has won first place in an important 
event. 

The reader who desires to train his own dogs will 
find several good books on the subject. " Training vs. 
Breaking" by Hammond is one of them. 



Ill 

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES. 

THERE are now in the United States many pri- 
vate parks and game preserves where game 
birds are as carefully propagated and protected by 
individuals as they are on the preserves in England- 
There are also hundreds (I am almost prepared to say 
thousands) of clubs or associations formed to own and 
control the shooting over vast areas of both marsh and 
upland. 

All of the private parks and most of the clubs are 
of very recent date. In Forester's day, as I have ob- 
served, there was none, and there is nothing about 
them in any of our books on field-sports. 

Private parks or preserves owned by individuals are 
comparatively few in number in the United States, but 
as wealth increases there will be more. The manage- 
ment of the private park is similar to that in England. 
Game-keepers are employed to protect the game from 
poachers, to destro)^ its natural enemies, and to feed it 
and care for it at all seasons. There are hatcheries 
for the imported birds, the pheasants, where many 
birds are propagated each season, as described in the 
chapter on these birds. 

Many of the private parks are miles in extent, and 
contain large game as well as small. Mr. Whitney's 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 2i 

October Mountain in the Berkshires, Biltmore in the 
South, the Austin Corbin estate in New Hampshire, 
Rockefeller's Adirondack Park, the Rancocas game- 
preserve in New Jersey, and other private estates, in- 
cluding some of vast proportions on the Pacific Coast, 
have been created in the past few years. 

By far the greater number of private game-pre- 
serves are in the hands of associations or clubs. These 
are of limited membership. One or two on Long 
Island and at Currituck have but a half-dozen mem- 
bers. Others, like the Nittany Club in Pennsylvania, 
have as many as two hundred. The average mem- 
bership is from thirty to fifty. 

Some of the clubs are composed exclusively of duck- 
shooters, and are formed to control the shooting over 
marshes where the wild fowl and wading birds are to 
be found when migrating. In other clubs the mem- 
bers are interested in shooting on the upland. A few 
of the clubs have both kinds of shooting. 

They are all organized upon somewhat similar lines, 
and in most cases are incorporated under the State 
law where the preserve is situated. The articles of 
incorporation contain — 

1st. The name of the club or association. 

2d. The object for which it is formed, usually — " To 
own and lease lands, and shooting and fishing priv- 
ileges ; to aid in the enforcement of game and fish 
laws," etc. 

3d. The number of members and shares. 

4th. The place where the principal office shall be 
located and the meetings held. 

The constitution and by-laws provide for the elec- 



22 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

tion and qualifications of members, usually that they 
be males twenty-one years of age, and that they re- 
ceive the vote necessary to elect them. Two or three 
blackballs are usually sufficient for rejection. The 
officers are a president, vice-president, secretary, and 
treasurer, whose duties are similar to those of the 
officers of other clubs. As a rule, the shares can be 
sold by a member only to a person who has been duly 
elected to membership. The shares in a shooting club 
are often issued at $ioo or $200. In many of the clubs 
they are now held at $5,000, and sell for even more in 
some cases. There are annual dues which vary in 
amount from $25 to several hundred dollars. 

In addition to the house committee, whose duties 
correspond to those of a city club committee, there 
is a game and fish committee, whose duty it is to at- 
tend to the stocking of the grounds of the upland 
clubs, to provide for the propagation of the pheasants, 
and generally to care for the game, employ the game- 
keepers, etc. At the duck clubs this committee pro- 
vides for the feeding, or baiting as it is termed, of the 
ducks, and the erection of the blinds, and has charge of 
the live decoys and the boats, and employs the super- 
intendent and the guides or punters. One of the 
duties of the game committee of the Wyandanch Club 
(Long Island) is to hire men " to plant patches of grain 
to be left standing." This committee should also on 
all upland preserves provide shelter for the birds in 
the winter and nesting-places in the spring, such as 
brush-heaps, corn-shocks, and brier and grass patches, 
and the committee should also see to the destruction 
of the natural enemies of the game. 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 23 

Both the upland and the duck clubs own a farm, 
where the club buildings are erected and where the 
superintendent and his family reside. The superin- 
tendent has charge of the club buildings and grounds, 
and, with the aid of watchmen or guards, prevents 
poaching and all trespassing on the preserve. Where 
the entire preserve is not owned by the club the privi- 
lege to shoot over the marshes and farms is usually 
leased for a term of ten or more years, with a privilege 
of renewal. It would be well always to have a privi- 
lege of purchase in the leases at a fixed price, since the 
ground sometimes becomes valuable in an unexpected 
way. Oil, for example, has been discovered on a 
game-preserve. A system of drainage may raise the 
price of a worthless marsh and at the same time de- 
stroy the shooting. 

Some of the clubs are for members only ; others 
permit a member to bring his family to the club-house; 
not, however, during the shooting season, and to bring 
guests for the shooting. At other clubs a member is 
not permitted to invite a guest. Such is the rule of 
the Ottawa Club, for example. Here there are fifty 
members, and when the shooting is good, there are 
scarcely enough good stands for all, since one-half of 
the blinds are always undesirable on account of being 
on the windward points or shores. At many of the 
clubs, however, the members are allowed to invite a 
friend for several days' shooting. The member is 
always required to accompany his guest, and is held 
responsible for his conduct and for the payment of all 
club charges. One of the Currituck clubs which I 
visited recently has a rule allowing a member to bring 



24 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

a friend for two days' shooting, having first obtained 
an invitation from the club-ofificers, and the member is 
charged $5 per diem for this privilege, and is required 
to pay the usual club charge for board, $1.50 per diem. 

The club-houses are often large and comfortable. 
Many of them are shingled and are picturesque in 
color and outline. The main building always contains 
a large room with an open fireplace where wood is 
burned. A fine view is to be had from many windows. 
There are well-filled bookcases, cases full of mounted 
game birds, easy-chairs, and tables filled with maga- 
zines and papers. The sleeping apartments overhead 
are nicely furnished with comfortable beds and each 
has a fireplace or stove. There are often inspiring 
pictures on the walls — Japanese geese flying away 
from excited Americans, mallards and other ducks 
falling to the successful shot, etc. 

The superintendent and his family live in their own 
house near by, and there are often dormitories or 
cottages for the use of members in addition to the 
main club building. The superintendent has the use 
of the club-farm, and at the duck clubs his guards or 
watchmen have the privilege of trapping muskrats 
and other animals which may be found on the marsh. 
At the boat-house each member has room for his boats, 
and a locker in which to keep his decoys, rubber boots, 
coats, etc. There are kennels for the dogs, and a club 
rule usually prohibits anyone from using a member's 
dog without his permission. There is a small monthly 
charge for keeping the dogs— $3 per month at the 
Wyandanch Club, and for puppies $2 per month after 
they are two months old, and until they are one year 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 25 

old. Since the distances on the preserves are great, 
many of the clubs have erected one or more cabins 
miles away from the club-house, where may be found 
firewood and a few canned provisions, a bed or two, 
and some blankets for the use of any club-man who 
may be out too late to return to the main club-house. 
This has been found necessary, since the duck shooting- 
is often best just at sundown, and on a dark night it is 
often impossible to find one's way in the marshes. 

The night before the opening day of the season at a 
duck club, the members present draw for positions or 
blinds. An arrow connected with a weather-vane on 
the roof swings about a disk on the ceiling marked 
with the compass-points, indicating which way the 
wind blows ; and a crowd of enthusiastic sportsmen 
glancing at the arrow, select by lot their places for 
the morning's shooting. 

Upon his arrival at the club-house each member is 
required to register for himself and guest, and the 
time of his departure is also noted in the same book. 
Another important and interesting book at all the 
clubs is the game-register, which contains the names 
of the birds found on the preserve. These are printed 
across the top of each page. A member, at the end of 
each day, is required to enter his name on this register, 
at the left-hand side of the page, and the number of 
each kind of birds shot. At the right of the page is a 
place for remarks about the wind, the weather, the 
place where the shooting was done, and the name of 
the attending guide or punter who may have assisted 
in gathering the wounded birds, or possibly the un- 
wounded. 



26 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

Scores from one of the Lake Erie clubs and one of 
the clubs at Currituck would read something like the 
follovvinof : 



Date and 

Name. 


XJ 

d 
c 

M 

u 


•d 
_« 
15 

I 

73 
»7 


■d 
rt 

J3 

•a 
a> 
Pi 

I 


13 

3 
3 


c 



V 

be 
•0 

20 

I 

4 

I 


■s 




3 
P 

21 

s 


■3 
c 

6 


10 


H 

C 

u 

3 

s 


"3 

(U 

H 
be 

c 

c 
u 



10 

3 
2 


3 

m 
I 


u 



2 


C 

7 


3 
Q 
>, 
■a 
■o 
3 
Pi 


V 

* 

9. 


"2 

H 

30 

6 

"7 

32 


Remarks. 


1895, Nov. 21 
H. S. A.S—.. 

1895, Nov. 15. 
J-- H- 

1901, Nov. 12. 
H. C. H. & son 

1901, Nov 12. 
D. E. P- . . . . 


Little mud-hole, wind N.E. 

Graveyard pond, wind N. 

Black water cove, wind 
N. E. 

Fishers cove. 



• There are usually more birds on the register, but enough are here given to show the 
form. 



These registers are entertaining and instructive rec- 
ords, valuable to sportsmen and ornithologists alike, 
when they have been well kept for a series of years, as 
they have been at the Crane Creek Club, the Winous 
Point Club, the Princess Anne Club, and many other 
clubs East and West. At some of the clubs there are 
but few entries in the registers at long intervals, and 
they are correspondingly uninteresting. By a rule of 
the Castalia Club the directors are instructed to see 
that the rule requiring members to register the fish 
and game taken is enforced. " And for that purpose 
they are directed to require the keeper to personally 
see that all members register, and in case of failure so 
to do, or in case of their making erroneous entry, it 
shall be the duty of the keeper to make correct entry 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 27 

upon the register and forthwith report the infringe- 
ment of the rule to the directors." When there is a 
rule providing for a bag limit per season as well as 
per diem, it is of course important that the entries 
on the register be correct. Birds or fish taken by a 
guest are charged against the member inviting him. 
The Castalia Club has another good rule whicli pro- 
vides that shooting or fishing during the time when 
the shooting and fishing are illegal, or prohibited by 
the rules of the club, shall be deemed sufficient cause 
for expulsion of the member so offending. 

Most of the clubs have a rule which prohibits all 
shooting by the punters, guides, or attendants. No 
rule, 1 am satisfied, is more often broken; the punter 
usually carries a gun, is an excellent shot, and his em- 
ployer is often ambitious to make a large bag of birds. 
A member of a Western club, in discussing this ques- 
tion with me, said the rule was enforced at his club, 
but at one adjoining the members could not shoot a 
" little bit," and often took out two punters to do the 
shooting for them, and, of course, made good scores. 

A half-hour later I was conversing with the presi- 
dent of the adjoining club referred to, and he vSaid the 
rule in their club was, of course, strictly observed. 
" We might as well," he said, " allow our servants to 
drink our champagne as to allow the punters to do the 
shooting which we have secured at so great an ex- 
pense for ourselves. Our neighbors," he added, confid- 
ingly, " do not observe the rule. They often take out 
two or three men to do the shooting. They cannot hit 
a barn-door — most of them, you know," etc. The 
same day I related these contradictory stories to still 



28 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

another club-man as something amusing. He, how- 
ever, colored slightly and said : " I allowed my punter 
to shoot a few dozen ducks for me one day, but I had 
a hard headache and was shooting badly in conse- 
quence. I do not believe in it at all — not at all." And 
so it is that duck-murder, like other kinds, will out. 

At a club down by the sea I saw an enthusiastic 
sportsman go out with two punters, each armed with 
a heavy gun, and heard the guns booming until ten 
o'clock at night, in utter disregard of the State law 
and a club-rule which required that the shooting cease 
at sundown. 

At many of the clubs the shooting is excessive and 
is kept up in the spring, after the birds have mated, 
with results, of course, disastrous to the game. At 
two of the clubs at Currituck, the spring shooting 
was recently prohibited by a club rule, and many of 
the ducks remained to breed on the club property. It 
is estimated that ten thousand ducks were raised there 
the first year. 

The simplest form of game-club is found quite near 
New York. Certain sportsmen of New Jersey have 
combined to control the shooting over many farms 
where the ruffed grouse and partridge live and where 
the woodcock still come upon their annual migration. 
They lease the right to shoot for a term of years, pa}'^- 
ing no money rental, but agreeing to make the farmers 
members of the association without the payment of 
dues, to stock the land with game, and to be responsi- 
ble for all damage to stock and fences, or of any kind, 
whether it result from the acts of members or tres- 
passers. The association further agrees to police the 



GAiME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 29 

ground, and to feed and care for the game, and renew 
it when necessary. 

On these preserves, of which there are several, there 
are no club-houses. The members drive out from 
Newark and the other cities and return at night, or 
perhaps find shelter at the farm-houses on the club- 
grounds. Other upland clubs in the Middle and West- 
ern States pay a money rental for the shooting, usually 
sufficient to pay the taxes on the land. 

Since all game-preserves in America are new, many 
of the older methods of pursuit still prevail. There is 
a tendency, however, to imitate foreign ways. Sports- 
men who a few years ago rowed their own boats, set 
their own decoys and carried their own game, are more 
often nowadays accompanied by a punter who punts 
the boat, places the decoys, carries the game and in 
many ways lightens the burdens of the sport, and 
sometimes loads the guns and even does the shooting. 
In England the ducks have long been "disturbed" by 
keepers or beaters and driven to the guns. At many 
of the American clubs the ducks are " disturbed " by 
punters, who punt or sail a boat and drive the birds 
from the open water. The birds are usually baited 
with corn or wheat at given points where the blinds 
are erected, and often when the season opens are very 
tame and afford quite easy shots. 

In England, a few years ago, much of the upland 
shooting was done over dogs, the setters or the point- 
ers. It was in England that these dogs were brought 
to the highest state of perfection, and all the best dogs 
in America are descended from this English stock. On 
the preserves to-day in England the pointers and the 



30 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

scttcis arc seldom used. The sin)iisnieii aie driven lo 
llie grounds, each attended by a serxaiit to load his 
i^uiis. A line is lornied. A company of beateis, nndci" 
the hcad-kecpcr, armed with llaj;s on poles to prevent 
the birds from turninij^ bat^k, "moves" (he partiidg'es 
and drives them to the i;uns. The shootinj^- is (piite 
rapid. The bai;- is lars;c. Since the birds are under 
lull headway when they reach the line of i;"uns, much 
skill is required to brinj^ them down. Two i^uns are 
used, the attendant loadin*;- one while the other is dis- 
charged. When the shooting is over the sportsmen 
are driven to the house of the owner of the estate 
whose guests they are. 

Mr, A. J. Stuart-Wortley, a talented English sports- 
man and writer, says: " The pointers and setters have 
been abandoned, almost, in England, on account of the 
disappearance of the old-fashioned stubble," It seems 
strange, lu)wever, when so much is expended on the 
game, that sutlicient cover is not provided for it. In 
shooting grouse upon the moors, the birds have long 
been driven to the guns. Retrieving dogs are used 
exclusively. 

Are the ramble in the fields and woods, the obser- 
vation of the well-trained dogs, the chief charms of 
sptirtsmanship, to be exchanged in America for a 
stand beside a fence, with a servant to load the guns ? 
Such results may follow the coming of the private 
game-preserves. Pheasants will, no doubt, be shot at 
an American battue, since they olten lun before the 
dogs. Our Western grouse may be driven to the am- 
bushed guns. This, indeed, is not so bad, since they 
are far too easy " over dogs." Long be the day, how- 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 31 

ever, before the best game-bird in all the world, Bob- 
white, shall be clubbed by shouting beaters from the 
fields, and driven to a line of guns. Stranger things 
have happened at the hands of fashion. I am inclined 
to predict that the shooting at driven birds is not far 
off. From England came the epidemics of the tennis- 
court and golf. From England came the riding to 
the hounds. 

There is in America much prejudice against the 
private game-preserve, probably on account of its as- 
sociation with aristocratic and monarchical institutions. 
Large country seats and palatial city houses have, how- 
ever, the same association without the game. Prejudice 
against the private game-preserve may prove an argu- 
ment in favor of the public park or refuge, and this is 
far more important to the safety of the game. 

In England the private parks have for centuries pre- 
served the game. There, although the bags are often 
large, the killing is limited to the increase of the year. 
Enough are spared to restock the grounds. Clubs 
there are, no doubt, in America, which are a benefit to 
the game. How many of these there are I do not know. 
Many there are which work a serious harm. Rivalry 
and shooting for count, or to be " high gun," often re- 
sult in a slaughter equal to or worse than that when 
the marshes and fields were all open ground. 

Such recent records as the killing of one hundred 
and four mallards in a morning by one gun on an Ohio 
preserve, the killing of four hundred teal in a day by 
four in Oregon, the killing of four hundred and sev- 
enty mallards by three guns on an Illinois preserve, 
and the recent killing of two thousand ducks by nine 



32 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

shooters in a day in California, would not indicate a 
desire to save the ducks. The fact that at many of 
the upland clubs the partridges must be renewed each 
year, proves that they fare no better. The Lake Erie 
group of clubs are recently reported as arrayed against 
legislation prohibiting the shooting of wild-fowl in the 
spring, when, of course, the birds should be allowed to 
mate. The killing of canvas-backs at the Lake Sur- 
prise preserve in Texas /or tJie market is only equalled 
by the disgraceful performances on the haciendas in 
Mexico, which are described later. The recent claim 
of the members of the Blooming Grove Park Associa- 
tion that the)' have a right to ignore the State and 
federal laws, and kill and ship game out of season, as- 
serted in a federal court, does not indicate a desire to 
save the birds. 

The decrease in value of the shares in game-pre- 
serves on the Chesapeake and elsewhere, and many 
other facts, might be cited to prove that private game- 
preserves do not sufficiently protect the game. 

Clubs there are, as we have observed, which have 
rules limiting the size of the bag, but so long as the 
birds show a rapid decrease year by year it is evident 
that the private game-preserve is not a sufficient safe- 
guard for their preservation. Ornithological writers 
continue to predict the extermination of all game. 

The National Park in Wyoming has done much to 
save the elk and deer, the bison, mountain sheep, 
and bears from extermination. The last named are 
already amusingly tame and are taken by the touring 
kodaks every year. 

The State parks of New York, in the Adirondacks 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 33 

and on Long Island, will no doubt save the deer and 
the wood-grouse, and, it may be, the moose which 
have recently been restored to the Northern woods. 
National and State parks are, however, few in num- 
ber, but the matter of their increase now claims the 
attention of sportsmen and all others interested in the 
subject of game-preservation. The number of these 
parks should be increased in time to save the turkey 
and the grouse, the wild-fowl and the waders, as well 
as the larger game. 

The army of migratory birds which annually crosses 
the United States moves north and south in three 
divisions ; one following the Atlantic, one the Pacific 
Coast, and the third the great valley of the Mississippi 
River. 

There should be parks. State and national, in Min- 
nesota, North Dakota, and Montana, to include small 
lakes and ponds where the \vild-fowl still build their 
nests, and where the northern-grouse, the sharp-tails, 
and the great sage-cock could be safe from persecu- 
tion. There should be parks of refuge for the swans, 
the geese, and ducks, adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, 
where these birds might safely pass the winter. 

The wild-fowl which now nest in these Northern 
States in a very few years will be found there no 
more. The Southern refuge is equally important. 
The slaughter, not alone in our marshes, but on the 
haciendas of Mexico as well, is something beyond 
belief. Many of the ducks which now go each winter 
to the " Armadas " of Mexico to seek the peace and 
quiet which precedes the slaughter, are driven from 
our Southern marshes by continued persecution. 



34 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

Ducks have a strong protective instinct and have 
been known to reason well. They soon learn where 
they are safe, and an inexpensive refuge in what is 
now a worthless marsh would save them from the 
destruction which awaits them across the Rio 
Grande. 

Louisiana has recently prohibited non-residents 
from shooting in the State. Far more good would 
be accomplished by the State preserves. There 
should be parks of refuge in Oregon and Washington, 
where the wild-fowl still remain to nest; on the Sacra- 
mento marshes in California, and in southern Califor- 
nia, where the slaughter in the winter is immense. 
Woodcock, snipe, plover, and many other shore-birds, 
cranes, and rails all resort to the marshes, and such 
parks as are here proposed would surely save these 
birds. 

State parks in the north of Maine, at Albemarle 
or Pamlico in North Carolina, and in the Everglades 
would save the wild fowl which now travel through 
the Eastern States in sadly diminished numbers, and 
probably restore them to New England lakes. Had 
there been public refuges a few years ago the pas- 
senger pigeons which came like clouds in the sky to 
the forests would not now be extinct. Had there 
been State parks in Ohio and Kentucky, the prairie- 
grouse would be found in their fields to-day. 

For many reasons the game-refuges should be un- 
der the control of the National Government. Since it 
has been legally held that the ownership of the game 
is in the State, uniform national laws for its preserva- 
tion, which have been proposed from time to time, can- 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 35 

not be enacted. The game-laws being therefore State 
laws, there is a deplorable lack of uniformity. New 
England awakens to the fact that the magnificent wood- 
cock is a vanishing bird, and stops the summer shoot- 
ing ; but the birds, more tame on that account, fall an 
easy prey to the market-gunners, who, in most of the 
Southern States, may shoot them after they have 
paired in the spring. A State park for ducks in Da- 
kota would be of little benefit to the birds without 
similar refuges in Tennessee and Arkansas and on the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

While there is a legal difficulty in the way of uni- 
form national laws to preserve the game, no such dif- 
ficulty appears to prevent the creation of the national 
game-preserves. The United States has its post- 
offices and public buildings in all the States of the 
Union. Its jurisdiction over the land on which they 
stand is exclusive. The United States has its park in 
Wyoming, and it is a source of pride and profit to the 
State. When the National Government proposes to 
establish a marine hospital in one of the States, the 
Governor of the State is asked to have the necessary 
legislation passed ceding the jurisdiction of his State 
in the property to the National Government. A short 
bill is prepared at the suggestion of the Governor, and 
is promptly passed by the State to be benefited. I 
introduced such a bill at the request of the Governor 
in the Assembly of Ohio, and it passed the same day 
under a suspension of the rules. Bills ceding the State 
jurisdiction over game-refuges would, no doubt, pass 
in the same way. 

Again, the control of the game-preserves by the 



36 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 

National Government is best, since for some reason 
national laws are the more closely observed and 
readily obeyed. Local liquor laws, for example, are 
often evaded, but there is not a tavern in the land 
which has not the license of Uncle Samuel framed 
and hanging on the wall, to indicate that the tax is 
paid. 

The cost of the proposed game-preserves for birds 
is inconsiderable. The best places are the wildest, 
the most inaccessible, the cheapest ; many of them of 
necessity are largely covered with water — worthless 
marshes, such as are seen at the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi and elsewhere. 

The title to many good places for game-refuges is 
now in the National Government. 

The cost of maintenance of such parks would 
amount to little. The keeper's compensation, as at the 
clubs, would be in part, at least, the right to farm the 
arable portions of the preserve. Few keepers would 
be necessary if it were known that the Secret Service 
was prepared to report offenders. 

The tendency of legislation, national and State, is 
toward the protection of the game. The Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture has recently been given certain 
powers looking toward its restoration. Restoration, 
however, to open fields and a vast army of modern 
guns, would amount to nothing. The remedy is the 
national game-preserve. 

Thirty-one States have game -commissioners, or 
other officers whose duty it is to preserve and, in some 
States, propagate the game. There are ten national 
and forty-three State organizations concerned with 



GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 37 

the protection of birds and game, besides the Audubon 
societies in twenty-nine States, but the destruction still 
goes on, with improved weapons and appliances, and 
until the birds have the needed refuge the danger of 
their total disappearance will remain. 



BOOK I 
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 



IV 

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

THE game birds of North America which most 
interest sportsmen are included in the orders 
GalliticE, birds of the cock or rooster type, the tur- 
keys, grouse, pheasants, and partridges : Anatidce, the 
swimmers — the geese, ducks and brant ; and LiniicolcB — 
the shore-birds or waders, the snipes, sandpipers, 
plovers, etc. First in importance is the order Gallince. 
The turkeys, grouse, and partridges are indigenous, but 
there are no quails in North America. The ducks 
are by many given first place and duck-shooters 
insist their sport is first and best. There are 
a few splendid birds, such as the woodcock, snipe 
and some of the plovers and sandpipers in the remain- 
ing order of shore-birds. In addition to the birds 
included in these three principal orders, there are 
the wild pigeons, the cranes and rails, and the reed 
birds. 

The gallinaceous birds are divided by ornitholo- 
gists into the Gallince and the Pkasianidcs. The 
former term includes the grouse, partridges, and 
quails ; the latter includes the pheasants. The wild 
turkey is the only true pheasant indigenous to North 
America. We have recently added two more to our 
fauna by importation — the Mongolian, or ring-neck, 

41 



42 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

from China, and the English pheasant, descended 
from the same stock, which has long been a familiar 
game bird in England and on the continent of Europe. 

Gallinaceous birds are all taken by pursuit. Most 
of them are shot over dogs, which seek and follow 
them by means of their scent, and which point them 
when found. For gallinaceous game the sportsman 
usually tramps across the fields with thorough-bred 
setters or pointers ranging ahead, and the observa- 
tion of these handsome, intelligent companions is, 
in my judgment, more than half the fun. The tramp 
across the fields and into the beautiful autumn woods 
when the frost is in the air, is for me the most 
desirable form of field sports. For men who do 
not walk and climb the fences well the ambush 
is more suitable. Do not think for a moment I would 
decry the sport, I have shot nearly every duck 
that fiies ; have spent days in the blinds both for 
the sea-ducks and the so-called river-ducks of the 
interior ; I have been out in all kinds of weather, long 
before daybreak and long after dark (before the laws 
prohibited night shooting), and have had some splen- 
did shooting at the ducks. I prefer the upland shoot- 
ing, since I prefer pursuit to ambush and enjoy the 
company and performance of setters more than of 
retrievers. 1 am thoroughly in accord with those who 
have given to the gallinaceous birds the title: " True 
game birds." 

The grouse, partridge, turkeys, and pheasants 
are all terrestrial birds and live and nest upon 
the ground. Turkeys and pheasants roost in the 
branches of trees, as do their descendants, the 



GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 43 

turkeys and chickens of the barn-yards. Although 
the grouse are referred to as hens and chickens 
(prairie-hen, spruce-hen, wood-heath-hen, sharp-tailed- 
chicken, sage-hen, etc.), they are not related to the 
domestic poultry, which is all descended from the 
pheasants. 

The legs of the turkeys, pheasants, and partridges 
are naked, but the grouse all have the shank or tarsus 
covered with feathers ; in some varieties even to the 
toes, as a protection against the snow. Sports- 
men will do well to remember this difference, and 
looking at the feathered legs of the ruffed-grouse they 
will no longer erroneously call the birds partridges, 
as many do in New England, or pheasants, as many 
do in Ohio and throughout the West and South. 
Such misnomers are bad enough when used by boys 
beyond the reach of schools. They should never be 
used by sportsmen. 

Bryant says of the ruffed-grouse : 

" Partridge they call him by our Northern streams 
and pheasant by the Delaware." 

Forester says he has a very good name of his own — 
ruffed-grouse. Gallinaceous birds all lie to the dogs, 
excepting the turkeys, and they do so at times. They 
arise from the ground with the loud and startling roar 
of wings so disconcerting to beginners, and fly in 
straight or curving lines. The smaller birds are 
more difficult, and on that account better marks than 
the grouse of the open country. 

All gallinaceous birds are found associated in 
flocks, termed covies or bevies. Late in the fall the 
grouse of the open country associate into vast flocks, 



44 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

termed packs, and it is then next to impossible to 
approach them. The wood-grouse never pack. 

The flesh of all the gallinaceous birds is excellent. 
They never have the sedgy or fishy taste which some 
ducks and shore-birds have at times ; but the grouse 
which live in the woods have a bitter taste when 
eating the spruce buds, and the great sage-grouse 
of the Western desert has often a decided flavor of 
the artemesia or wild sage. There are in all forty-two 
species and sub-species found in North America, but 
many of these are much alike, and from the sports- 
man's view-point there are but sixteen birds — the wild 
turkey, three grouse of the open country, the prairie- 
grouse, the sharp-tailed-grouse, and the sage-grouse ; 
four grouse of the woods and mountains, the ruffed- 
grouse, Canada-grouse, blue-grouse and ptarmigan ; 
two imported pheasants, the Mongolian and English, 
and six partridges, the California Valley partridge, 
the mountain partridge, the scaled partridge, Gam- 
bel's partridge, the Massena partridge, and last and 
best. Bob-white. There are two additional Bob-whites 
which are found in the Southwest and Mexico, so 
different in their markings as to be worthy of special 
notice. These are pictured and described. We first 
go in pursuit of the turkeys and their relatives, the 
pheasants ; then to the prairies and woods for the 
grouse and to the fields for the partridges. 

The ornithologists now having agreed that there 
are no quails in North America, I would strongly 
urge the sportsmen to drop the terms " quail " and 
" quail-shooting." It being evident that the ruffed- 
grouse, with his feathered legs, is not a pheasant or 



GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 45 

a partridge, let us all pull together and endeavor to 
see that the bird has his proper name. This is the 
more important now that we may shoot the true 
pheasants with their bright plumage, long tails, and 
naked legs, in the same covers with the woodland- 
grouse. 



THE WILD TURKEY 

ANYONE who has seen a wild turkey strutting in 
the sunlight, his bronze feathers gleaming with 
a metallic lustre and reflecting rays of deep purple, 
red, green, and blue, will be prepared to agree with 
the ornithologists that he is a pheasant. The wild 
turkey, in pattern and markings, is similar to the domes- 
ticated bird, but he is far handsomer. Wild turkeys 
often are very heavy ; there are records of birds weigh- 
ing as much as twenty-five and thirty pounds. The 
flesh is even finer than that of the tame bird, and 
without doubt the turkey is the largest and most mag- 
nificent game bird in the world and one of the best, if 
not the best, of food birds. The wild turkey is indig- 
enous to the Western hemisphere alone ; the other 
pheasants are found on the other side of the globe, 
except the two recently introduced into the United 
States. 

The range of the turkey given in the check list of 
the American Ornithological Union is : — " United 
States from Chesapeake Bay to Gulf Coast, and west 
to the plains, along wooded river valleys, formerly- 
north to Southern Maine, Southern Ontario, and up the 
Missouri River to North Dakota." Three other varie- 
ties of turkey are listed, all with a more limited range : 

The Mexican turkey, the Florida turkey, and the Rio 

46 



THE WILD TURKEY 47 

Grande turkey. These are, however, so much alike 
as to be the same bird to a sportsman. In fact it 
would take a very expert ornithologist, I am satisfied, 
to distinguish the species where the birds are associ- 
ated and have no doubt intermarried. The wild turkey 
is an extinct bird in many of the Northern and Eastern 
States, and is nowhere found in any numbers save in a 
few places in the South and Southwest. It is difficult 
to realize the numbers which existed some years ago. 
William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) thus describes the abun- 
dance of the turkeys in the West : " While at this 
camp we had a lively turkey hunt. The trees along 
the banks of the stream were literally alive with wild 
turkeys, and after unsaddling the horses, between two 
and three hundred soldiers surrounded a grove of tim- 
ber and had a grand turkey round-up, killing four or 
five hundred of the birds with guns, clubs, and stones. 
Of course we had turkey in every style after this hunt 
— roast turkey, boiled turkey, fried turkey, ' turkey 
on toast ' and so on ; and we appropriately called this 
place Camp Turkey." They were probably as abun- 
dant in the Indian Territory a few years ago as any- 
where. My brother found them fairly abundant in 
Southern Texas, and there are places in the Gulf States 
where there are still some turkeys. A few remain in 
the mountains of Pennsylvania and the Virginias. 
Like the other game birds, before they became intimate 
with man they were so tame as to be called stupid. 
Irving, in his " Tour on the Prairies," so refers to them. 
I found a few turkeys when partridge shooting a 
few years ago in Northwestern Ohio and twice the 
dogs pointed them. I saw one killed over a point in 



48 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

( 

Indiana where we expected a woodcock to spring 
before the dog. Forester says turkeys never lie 
close enough to be pointed by pointers or set- 
ters or to be shot on the wing. This was no doubt 
true of the few birds remaining in the Eastern States 
in Forester's day, but I have repeatedly seen the dogs 
stand turkeys and have several times seen them 
killed on the wing like partridges. It is most unusual, 
however. The turkeys that survive are all extremely 
wild and wary, and the utmost skill is required to stalk 
them in the forest. 

As objects of pursuit I do not much care for them, 
for the reason that they do not lie well to the dogs. 
I much prefer the open tramp behind the setters to 
the covert stalking of any game, when one moves but 
a half step at a time, with the utmost caution, striving 
not to make the slightest noise. It may be that I do not 
care for stalking turkeys, since lam not very good at it, 
but I am quite sure that were I successful, I would 
still be found with the dogs, I had an excellent oppor- 
tunity to learn the turkey shooter's methods, when 
shooting partridges several seasons with a sportsman 
devoted to turkey shooting, but we usually parted 
company when he discovered turkey signs. 

Another objection I have to turkey shooting is the 
long time between shots. To one accustomed to using 
from fifty to a hundred shells in a day, and the lively 
work with the prairie grouse, partridges, ducks, or snipe 
a single shot in a week, or perhaps no shooting at all, 
seems slow. I must admit that there is much skill dis- 
played in fairly outwitting the turkey of to-day, and 
the sportsman who kills one has every reason to be 



THE WILD TURKEY 49 

proud of his achievement, and is deserving of the mag- 
nificent prize he obtains. There are several methods 
of capturing turkeys other than stalking them. The 
most familiar is calling them up to an ambush by 
means of an imitation of their gobble. Some turkey 
shooters become very expert at this, and can call the 
turkeys within a few feet of their guns. The turkey-call 
is usually made of the wing-bone of the bird. Often 
the sound is produced by the vibration of a leaf placed 
against the mouth. The gobble is sounded at intervals 
when a bird responds, and there is considerable excite- 
ment while the wild, wary birds are approaching, but 
when they step out in an open place a short distance 
from the gun, the sitting shot is an easy one, and the 
flying marks present no great difficulty for the second 
barrel. 

Turkeys are often shot with the rifle, the aim being 
at the head, so as not to destroy the flesh. Such shots 
are often at long range, and difficult. Before the turkeys 
were too wild, a dog was of service to tree them, in the 
same manner dogs are used in some woods to tree the 
ruffed-grouse, when of course, the bird is shot sitting. 

Another method of taking turkeys is to shoot them 
on moonlight nights when they are roosting in the 
trees. There are many accounts of this night-shooting 
in the river bottoms of the Southwest, but when one 
stops to think of it, it is unsportsmanlike to shoot any 
bird after it has gone to sleep, and such shooting is now 
prohibited in many of the States. Shortly after leav- 
ing the roost, the turkeys are on the ground busily 
engaged in feeding, and they are then more easy to 
find and approach than later in the day. 



50 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

There are some turkeys in the great preserve of the 
Nittany Club in Pennsylvania, and here, if anywhere 
in the North, I believe by proper care the turkeys 
might be made to show an increase. Turkeys are 
great wanderers, but the preserve of this club is miles 
in extent, and if a lot of new birds could be procured 
and protected, there no doubt would be in a few years 
enough turkeys for the club members to kill one now 
and then when in pursuit of other game — possibly over 
a point. Some tame birds of the bronze variety closely 
resembling the wild ones might be turned out in the 
farms preserved by the club, and these would aid in 
keeping the wild birds on the preserve, and would most 
likely soon be found associating with them. A wild tur- 
key is a great prize in any bag. His appearance would 
cause rejoicing at the club table. I heard of a few flocks 
in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania a year ago, 
and had an invitation to go in pursuit of them ; there 
were ruffed-grouse in the same woods, a few woodcock, 
and a few coveys of partridges in the valleys. A friend 
who shot over the ground, assured me there could be 
no doubt about the turkeys being there, and I am 
always glad to learn of the existence of these birds any- 
where. Their extermination seemed certain a few 
years ago. Unless they be preserved on some of the 
club grounds, I fear they will vanish as completely as 
did the buffalo and wild passenger pigeon. In the 
West the turkeys are pursued with greyhounds, but 
I have never witnessed this sport. The birds are 
repeatedly driven into the air, each flight being shorter, 
until finally the dogs overtake one. 

Turkey shooting is a most uncertain sport. When 



THE WILD TURKEY 51 

I wrote " In Brush, Sedge, and Stubble," since repub- 
lished as " The True Game Birds," I referred to my 
experience in the Ozark Mountains with a local sports- 
man who knew the woods. I spent several days look- 
ing- for turkeys but did not see a bird. We were in- 
formed that in our absence a boy had killed one with 
a stone, from a small flock which appeared in the 
village. 



VI 

THE PHEASANTS 

ALTHOUGH the pheasants were introduced 
and naturalized in England more than eight 
hundred years ago, there was not a pheasant in the 
United States prior to the year 1881, excepting, of 
course, the wild turkey. It was through the efforts of 
our Consul-General at Shanghai, Judge Denny, of 
Oregon, that the birds were first introduced into the 
United States. His first experiment was a failure, but 
the next year he was successful with the birds shipped 
to his brother, Mr. John Denny, of Albany, Oregon. 
Many of the birds survived and were liberated on his 
farm, near Patterson's Butte. Being protected for a 
number of years by legislation, they became abundant 
and the pheasant is now a common game bird on the 
Pacific Coast. 

Many sportsmen became interested in this bird and 
it was soon introduced into many of the Eastern States, 
and protected everywhere for a period of years. A 
number of pheasant farms and hatcheries were started, 
and they found it difficult to supply the demand for 
birds and eggs. In some of the States the propagation 
of these birds was undertaken by the State game com- 
missioners. The clubs have liberated pheasants on 
their preserves, and many individuals throughout 

52 



THE PHEASANTS 53 

America are interested in raising them to stock their 
private shooting grounds. 

In many of the States the close period is now about 
to expire, and the pheasant will be shot with the other 
game birds, but I doubt much if they will anywhere 
survive in the Eastern States, save on the preserves. 
The birds are large and noticeable on account of their 
bright plumage, and although swift flyers they are not 
very difficult marks ; and in localities where there are 
several shooters in each field the moment the season 
opens, and often before, with dogs of all sorts, I do not 
see how the pheasants can possibly escape. 

It would seem that the climate of our country, at least 
that of most of the States, is even more favorable to 
these beautiful fowls of the Orient, than that of England. 
Since the birds have been successfully propagated 
there for centuries (and although the shooting has 
been excessive in England and on the Continent of 
Europe) there is each year an abundance of birds in 
the preserves, I see no reason why they should not 
do well everywhere in America where there are clubs 
or preserves. To-day I notice in a morning paper this 
telegram from Paris : " Count Boni de Castellane enter- 
tained King Carlos, of Portugal, at a shooting party 
yesterday, at the Chateau Marais, near St. Cheron. 
The bag includes four hundred and sixty-one pheas- 
ants." Royalty everywhere is very fond of pheasants, 
and of all shooting, for that matter, and the foregoing is 
not an extraordinary bag, but large enough to show 
how successfully the birds have been introduced and 
propagated in other countries. 

The shooting clubs of the Eastern States have been 



54 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

successful with the pheasants, and some of them already 
have very good shooting. I am informed that at one 
of the clubs on Long Island the shooting is now as 
good or better than that to be had on most English 
estates of similar size. This club each year releases 
about two thousand birds in the covers, which have 
been bred on neighboring farms. In Ohio, the pheas- 
ants are propagated by the State, and distributed each 
year. Many of the Ohio clubs have also liberated 
pheasants on their preserves, and they are now abun- 
dant in many places, more especially on the grounds of 
the duck clubs which control the shooting on the 
marshes south of Lake Erie. The heavy sedge seems 
to offer a safe refuge for the birds, and no doubt pro- 
tects them from hawks and other enemies. The shoot- 
ing is not yet open in Ohio, but last year, when sketch, 
ing in the marshes, I saw many pheasants, which (as I 
came upon them in fields or in the paths through the 
sedge) flew away with a loud clucking like the prairie- 
grouse, presenting about the same, or little more diffi- 
cult marks. 

Although only about twenty-five birds were liberated 
on the grounds of the Ottawa Club (Sandusky) and 
there has been no effort made toward propagation, 
they have increased rapidly, and there are now thou- 
sands of birds on their preserve. 

In England and the older countries the shooting of 
pheasants is largely done at the battue, and a recent 
writer for Harper s Weekly (I don't know who, since the 
article was unsigned) well says : " It used to be the 
fashion to sneer at the battue ; men who had killed big 
game in the forest laughed at the picture of good King 



THE PHEASANTS 55 

Edward sitting in an arm-chair potting half-tame 
pheasants, but there is no Icind of shooting, I think, that 
requires surer marksmanship than the battue as it is 
practised in the national preserves of Rambouillet. It 
is not a wild sport, but it is a sport in which skill is 
everything. Its sporting equation would be : ' The 
battue is to stalking grizzlies as billiards is to football.' 
I have shot prairie chickens over a good red setter in 
the stubble of Wisconsin fields, and have had my day 
in a boat on the reeds for wild ducks; now, believe me, 
in neither instance does the game have so fair a chance 
for his life as he does in a battue, when he is flagged 
out of the bush or copse and driven down upon your 
gun. Far less destructive than shooting over dogs, it 
is therefore more sportsmanly. This is especially the 
case when pheasants are in play." The writer de- 
scribes a battue at which M. Loubet, the President of 
France, was the principal shooter. 

In America pheasants are usually shot over dogs. 
We are good imitators, however. Something like the 
fox-hunting of England is seen on Long Island and 
elsewhere, and I predict it will not be long before the 
pheasants are shot at the battues on October Mountain 
and on the other vast country estates now owned by 
American men who can afford them. A member of 
one park association recently informed me that on that 
preserve the pheasants are held in captivity until a 
member of the club notifies the game-keeper that he is 
coming. Thereupon the few birds which each member 
is allowed to shoot are placed out in a field and he is 
informed exactly where and proceeds to shoot them. 
I said nothing when this information was imparted ; 



56 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

but my informant added : " It does seem a little funny, 
docs it not?" I replied that it did ! 

The domestic hens are found to be valuable assistants 
in the raising of young pheasants. The eggs laid by 
the pheasants are removed and placed under the hens in 
little boxes in a house, where many hens may be seen 
at once sitting on as many as twenty eggs each. The 
little chicks with their foster-mothers are put out in 
coops where the chicks can run about in the grass. 
Pheasants are polvgamous and one cock is usually 
penned with a number of hens. If more than one cock 
is placed in an inclosure they will spend much of their 
time in lighting, since they are very pugnacious. Wal- 
lace Evans, of the game propagating farm near Chicago, 
says that if the cocks are permitted to occupy the same 
inclosure duiing the breeding season the}' will fight al- 
most constantly, to the utter neglect of their conjugal 
duties. The hens commence laying about April 15th, 
the date depending somewhat upon the weather; and 
each hen lays from fifty to seventv-five eggs in a season 
if properly fed and cared for, thus furnishing the breeder 
with several settings of eggs every spring. The eggs 
are gathered dail}^ and set under the hens sometimes as 
late as July. The period of incubation is about twenty- 
one days. The young birds are fed on boiled custard 
for a few days. Mr. Evans advises the removal of the 
foster-mother and her brood when the poults are some 
three or four days old, and that their food be changed 
slightly ; the custard being fed once daily and one meal 
being n{ finely chopiKxl hard-boiled eggs. As the poults 
begin to show strength a small quantity of the smaller 
grains — such as cracked wheat, millet, etc., should be 



THE PHEASANTS 57 

mixed with the food, thequantity of grain beingincreased 
gradually until the birds can be fed entirely with the 
grain. Mr. Evans says, further, that it is good policy 
to work the poults off the soft food as soon as possible. 
The breeder at the outset will get full instructions 
from the dealer who owns the pheasantry,and following 
these he should have no trouble in stocking his farm 
or preserve. 

In setting out the young birds the foster-mother and 
coop should be moved to the place selected and the 
young fed there daily, until they become accustomed 
to the place. This will prevent their wandering away. 
It is well to know that pheasants do not inhabit large 
forests or open plains. They insist upon cover, but 
feed in the fields. In this they much resemble our 
partridge. Bob-white, and the pheasants as a rule will 
do well on the same ground. In the early morning 
and again toward evening the pheasants leave the 
cover to scratch and feed in the fields. When alarmed, 
like the partridges, they fly to the cover, but some- 
times trust to their legs and travel at a gait to exas- 
perate a setter trying to road and point them. 

A successful breeder, Dc Guise, writing for Forest 
and Stream, says: "They will at once make their home 
in and never leave any wooded hollow, where cedars 
and (^ther evergreen trees abound, through whose 
depths runs a never-failing stream, and which lies amid 
fields of grass and grain. Such is an ideal harborage 
for them, where their every want will be supplied. 
. . . . In trying to set up a stock of pheasants no 
efforts will be fully repaid, no success will be perfect, 
unless a determined and continued onslaught is made 



58 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 

on their foes, furred and feathered. The brook so 
necessary for their comfort is the lurking place of the 
mink. The grateful shade of the trees harbors hawks 
and owls, and many a brood will be left motherless, 
and many a hen will be bereft of her young, unless all 
such depredators be ruthlessly exterminated." 

The male bird of the true Mongolian pheasants is 
very handsome. The head is of an iridescent green, 
reflecting blue and purple, and about the neck is the 
broad white band which suggested the technical name 
Torquatus, ring-neck. The English pheasant has lost 
this white ring about its neck, and in some specimens 
it is represented by a few white feathers. Both birds 
have reddish-chestnut breasts, reflecting purple, and 
have long tails barred with black. The English birds 
are regarded as better than the true Mongolians for 
American covers, but the Mongolians are handsomer 
birds, on account of the broad white collar about the 
neck. The flesh of both birds is excellent, nearly as 
white as the domestic chicken, and far more palatable. 
I have eaten them both at the same meal, and doubt if 
I could detect the difference, if unaware which bird was 
served. The English bird is said to be somewhat 
heavier, the Mongolian seemed to me to possibly have 
a more gamy flavor. 

There are many other beautiful pheasants which 
may some day be added to our fauna, but the Mongo- 
lian and the English pheasants are those which are 
now interesting to sportsmen. 

In shooting pheasants, beat the sides of the fields 
early in the day and at evening, and the dog will soon 
discover the trail of the birds when they have run out 



THE PHEASANTS 59 

into the fields to feed, and follow them to a point, pro- 
vided they do not run away from him. Mr. Miller, of 
Eugene, Oregon, says the pheasant lies better to the 
dog than the blue-grouse or prairie-chicken, but my 
information would lead me to believe that the prairie- 
grouse is the better bird before dogs, prior, of course, 
to the time when it packs and does not lie for them at 
all. The long tail, when this pheasant presents a cross 
shot, will tend to make the sportsman shoot behind his 
bird and so miss him, or bring down only the feathers 
from the tail. Shoot well ahead of crossing birds and, 
as 1 have before remarked, do not forget that there is 
little danger of your missing by shooting too far in ad- 
vance of the bird. 



VII 

THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE 

SEVERAL years ago I suggested that the Ameri- 
can grouse might properly be divided into two 
classes — (i) the grouse of the open country and (2) the 
grouse of the woods and mountains. The classifica- 
tion is not of course ornithological, but sportsmanlike, 
since the grouse of the open country all lie better to 
the dogs than the grouse of the woods, and are dis- 
tinguished from the wood-grouse in other ways, impor- 
tant to sportsmen, as we shall observe later. Many 
grouse are listed in the check list, which are so much 
like others as to be distinguished with difficulty. 
When the pattern and markings are the same, and the 
habits of the species and sub-species are identical, and 
the only difference is a slight variation of the general 
color, the birds may be, and are, regarded as the same by 
sportsmen. The sub-species of ruffed-grouse — for ex- 
ample, the Canadian ruffed-grouse, the gray ruffed- 
grouse, and the Oregon or Sabinesruffcd-grousc — arc the 
same in patte]"n and markings and have the same habits, 
and the sportsman is right in regarding them as iden- 
tical. The great ornithologist, Coues, says: "They 
are ruffed-grouse, each and all of them, and we may 
ignore the varieties, unless we desire to be very pre- 
cise." Any attempt to portray these sub-species in 
black and white fails. They all appear exactly alike, 

60 



THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE 6i 

for the reason that the differences are in color. Were 
the pictures made in color there would necessarily be 
many of them, since the sub-species intergrade and all 
the specimens in a collection might be different. 

Discarding the sub-species, there remain three grouse 
of the open country : the prairie-grouse, the sharp- 
tailed grouse, and the sage-grouse ; and four grouse 
of the woods and mountains: the ruffed-grouse, the 
Canada or Spruce-grouse, the blue- or dusky-grouse, 
and the ptarmigan, which turns white in winter. 

The grouse of the open country all lie well to the 
dog until late in the year, and seldom fly to the trees. 
The grouse of the woods and mountains are all given 
to flying to the trees, and are often shot from the 
branches. The flesh of the wood-grouse is usually 
light ; that of the grouse of the open country is darker. 

In some of the States the season for shooting the 
grouse of the open country commences in August. 
This is a month too early, since many of the birds have 
then an immature flight and go fluttering out of the 
grass or stubble with a speed not much better than 
that of the rails, presenting marks which in no way 
test the skill of the sportsman. It is, too, excessively 
hot on the prairies in August and so dry and dusty 
that the dogs have great difficulty in finding and 
pointing the game and often suffer from thirst. On 
the high plains of the Northwest the temperature is 
better, and the many small lakes and ponds furnish 
water for the dogs. The opening day for grouse in 
Scotland is August 12th, and this date would do for 
North Dakota, Montana, and Manitoba. I have had 
many good days in Dakota and Montana in the latter 



62 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS-GROUSE 

part of August, when the birds were fairly strong on 
the wing, but for many reasons I am of the opinion 
that September ist should be the opening day for 
grouse shooting in America. This is the best date 
when all the States are considered, and uniformity is 
desirable. And since the birds have rapidly dimin- 
ished, it is well to have a short season. 

Ten years ago I had no hesitation in predicting the 
extermination of the grouse of the prairies. They had 
already disappeared from Ohio and Kentucky, and 
when I went to shoot in Indiana, Illinois, and Kansas, 
I observed that the race was rapidly diminishing, and 
that the birds were shot as early as July, sold openly 
in the markets, and served at hotels and restaurants. 
Market gunners vied with sportsmen in the making of 
outrageous bags, and the birds were shot for sport, 
when they could not be transported or used on ac- 
count of the heat. Stories were common of wagon- 
loads of game thrown away. The sharp-tailed grouse 
fared somewhat better for a time, on account of the 
Indians, who were the best game preservers in the 
world, using what they needed only, and preventing 
their white brothers from taking any. 

The legislation shortening the open season, and pro- 
hibiting the sale and shipment of the grouse, has done 
much, and with the creation of preserves in the grouse 
States, the birds will no doubt be saved for all time 
and cared for and handled as grouse are in Scotland, 
where immense numbers are killed each year, but 
enough are left to restock the preserves. 

In Scotland the game preserves are of great value. 
" Shoots" are advertised for the season at a rental often 



THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE 63 

of thousands of dollars. The editor of the British 
Sportsman sa.id, last fall, that the annual sporting rental 
of Inverness-shire is close upon $100,000, Adding the 
rentals received in Perthshire, Ross-shire, Argyle- 
shire, and Aberdeenshire, and $140,000 for the deer 
shooting, it is estimated that the shooting privileges 
yield an annual rental of over $2,200,000. " These fig- 
ures," says the editor, " give the value of shootings when 
properly looked after, and it must be borne in mind that 
all this money is derived from land which in the days 
of our grandfathers produced practically nothing." 

I look to see somewhat similar conditions in thegrouse 
States of America before many years. The grouse 
are especially adapted to some of the city sportsmen, 
since the shooting in America is usually done from a 
spring-wagon with cushioned seats, and the shots are 
comparatively easy, being made over dogs. Already 
there are places in this country where the entire taxes 
on farms are paid by city sportsmen, and I predict it 
will not be long before the " shoots," to use the English 
expression, bring much better prices. The distance 
from the large cities to the shooting grounds is no 
longer a serious problem. A day or two in a luxurious 
private car, or in the library of an express train, will 
put one down upon the finest grouse-fields in the 
world. In Scotland the grouse shooting is largely 
done from ambush, the birds being driven across a 
line of guns. The birds are under full headway as 
they pass or cross over, and the shots are more diffi- 
cult (as they are at driven pheasants) than those pre- 
sented when shooting over dogs. I know a number 
of American sportsmen who go to shoot grouse in 



64 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

Scotland, and they are very fond of the drives. There 
is no place in the world where driving could be better 
done than on the prairies and plains of the Western 
States. 

We will no doubt shoot at driven grouse before 
many years, since the "preserve" idea is moving West- 
ward like the course of empire. 

The wood-grouse are all great wanderers afoot, and 
require large forests for their preservation. The cut- 
ting down of the trees has been sufficient to extermi- 
nate them in many places. They are benefited by the 
establishment of the preserves, and get along with less 
woodland when not too much persecuted. 

All of the grouse are sufificiently important to be 
considered separately, when we shall have something 
to say as to the natural history of each, and the 
methods of pursuing them. 



VIII 

THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 

THE common-grouse, known as the prairie-hen or 
chicken, and the sharp-tailed grouse, are simi- 
lar birds but easily distinguished. The former in- 
habits the prairies and the latter the plains. They are 
associated where the prairies and the so-called great 
plains of the Northwest blend. The prairie bird was 
formerly found from the Eastern States to the plains, and 
was abundant in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, but few, 
if any, remain in Ohio and the bird is nowhere as 
abundant as it was a few years ago. It is probably 
more abundant to-day in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, 
Iowa, and parts of Illinois than elsewhere, and is ex- 
tending its range toward the Northwest. The prairie- 
grouse is a reddish-brown bird with dark brown 
stripes running crosswise. The sharp-tailed grouse 
is much lighter in color, being almost white under- 
neath and the markings are lengthwise. The sharp- 
tailed grouse is easily distinguished by the sharp tail 
and white spots on the wings. 

The prairie-grouse live only in the open country, 
preferring prairies of vast extent. As they are culti- 
vated the grouse remain and feed in the stubbles and 
corn, and the vast corn-fields in the prairie States have 
done much toward their preservation. When it was the 
fashion everywhere to shoot these birds in the sum- 

65 



66 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

mer, even as early as July, the jriowing corn afforded 
a refuge often miles in extent where it was intensely 
hot and where the shooting was difficult, especially so 
where the broad green leaves of the corn grew higher 
than the head. In Illinois and Kansas I have seen 
many a fine covey of grouse at the first shot on the 
stubble lly directly to the corn and sailing for a long 
distance over it settle where it was difficult to mark 
them and impossible to shoot them. Toward evening 
the birds return to the stubble to feed, but at the first 
shot they fly back to the corn. 

The prairie-grouse builds its nest on the ground and 
there are usually from twelve to fifteen eggs. The 
cocks in the spring make a loud booming noise, and 
strut and fight often at certain places called by the 
country folks scratching places. 

Many nests are destroyed by prairie fires and many 
by spring floods. Provided it be not too late the hen 
will usually nest again. Many are of the opinion that 
the grouse raise two broods in a year; 1 doubt not 
they do sometimes, and usually if the first brood is 
destroyed. Early in the season the young birds are not 
strong on the wing and are very easy marks. They 
arise from the ground with the loud whirring noise 
made by all gallinaceous birds, and familiar to every- 
one who has stumbled upon a flock of partridges or a 
ruffed-grouse in the woods. When full grown the 
flight is strong and well sustained, the whirring con- 
tinues for a time and then the birds sail on extended 
wings, soon to whirr and sail again alternately until 
they have flown a great distance. When the grouse 
are young and tame, and have not been shot at, they 



THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 6^ 

do not fly far, often not much beyond the limit of a 
large field. They are then the easiest kind of marks, 
and the whole flock is often killed by two guns in very 
short order. They lie well to the dogs, which find 
them easily, provided it be not too dry, but as the 
season advances they are more diflficult to approach, 
and an October grouse is a swift and difficult mark, 
rising nearly out of range. 

As soon as the weather becomes cold many coveys 
associate, forming vast flocks, which are termed packs. 
It is then next to impossible to approach them within 
shooting range. They may be seen sitting on fences 
and on hay-stacks, and are even visible sitting about on 
the ground with heads up, and always alert and ready 
to fly a mile or more when the sportsman approaches. 
It is useless to try and get within range of them. A 
few birds might possibly be killed at long range with 
a rifle, but no sportsman fond of shooting over setters 
would thus destroy the birds. Sometimes on warm, 
sunny days late in the fall, if a pack of grouse be moved 
early in the day while feeding, they will fly out on the 
prairie and as the sun becomes strong in the middle of 
the day they resume their feeding, and if well scattered 
may lie to the dog. 

In September the sportsman looks for the grouse 
early in the day and again late in the afternoon. The 
birds start quite early from the long and heavy grasses 
or from the standing corn, going afoot to the stubbles 
to feed. In the middle of the day the dogs will not 
find them. Late in the season if there is any shooting 
it will be in the middle of the day. 

The distances on the prairie are so great that the 



68 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

sportsmen usually drive in a wagon, alighting to shoot, 
or ride about shooting, often without dismount- 
ing. I have tried both methods many times and am 
very fond of the saddle. When the horse, or Indian 
pony, is used to the gun and will stand anywhere with- 
out hitching and come when called, as a well-trained 
pony will do, this method is perhaps the best. A drive 
with a companion or two in a light spring-wagon, with 
the opportunity of praising the conduct of the dogs 
and discussing the shots at the last covej^ is the usual 
way. The dogs range far and wide, and when they 
come to a point the wagon is driven rapidly within a 
very short distance of them, the sportsmen take their 
positions behind the dogs, slipping the shells in the 
guns as they approach, and when all are ready the 
owner of the dogs steps forward a pace or two, his 
companion moves forward with him, there is a loud 
whirring of wings, a rapid firing of the guns and if 
the aim be true, four large brown birds tumble dead 
into the stubble at the report of the four barrels. 

The driver shades his eyes with his hand and from 
his seat in the wagon observes the flight of the sur- 
vivors as they go whirring and sailing away like so 
many two-pound meadow-larks, and marks them b}^ a 
tall weed when they settle on the prairie. 

The dog having retrieved the dead, they are placed 
in the wagon and a short drive brings the shooters to 
the scattered birds. Soon the setters or pointers lo- 
cate them by the strong scent. One dog draws up 
quickly to a point and the other backs him, or per- 
chance they both point at once at separate birds. 
These arise as the sportsmen move forward, present- 





V^4 




3t pq 

H 

■' O 

« o 



i 



THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 69 

ing single shots and often doubles, since two or three 
birds will often get up together. Others arise at the 
report of the guns, and the shooting is rapid. Here, 
as in all field shooting, observe the rule as to silence. 
Do not exclaim about the merits or demerits of a shot, 
especially when the gun has just been fired, for you 
will most likely move a pair of birds just at your feet, 
which no doubt will present the easiest chance for a 
double, and be talked about for the rest of the day, as 
the fish are which get away. Do not shout at the dog 
or give him any orders if it can be avoided. Replace 
the shells in the gun immediately after firing, and if 
you care to do so and shoot fairly well you may bag 
every bird in the covey then and there. 

Since the shooting is always in the open it is not 
difficult to mark and follow the birds, except in stand- 
ing corn, and it is not unusual for the entire covey to 
be brought to bag before the sportsmen leave it. 
Now that the birds are few in number sensible sports- 
men do not care to exterminate them, and on the pre- 
serves it is quite necessary to spare some of them if 
there is to be any shooting another year. The mar- 
ket gunner, always the most destructive, finding it 
more and more difficult to dispose of the game, has in 
most places ceased to shoot, and those who used to 
trap large numbers of the birds, using large traps 
which often caught a covey at a setting, have ceased 
to trap them for the same reason. 

In many of the States there are laws limiting the 
size of the bag to be made in a day to from ten to 
twenty-five birds and the limit may be easily reached 
by shooting a few birds from each covey. So soon as 



70 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

the birds are everywhere preserved, as they no doubt 
will be, the bag limit may well be increased, since per. 
sonal interest will so regulate the killing as to save 
enough to restock the grounds for another year. 
Upon a preserve the natural enemies of the grouse 
are destroyed ; suitable nesting places are not burned 
over and the birds are fed and cared for in the winter. 
Under such conditions large bags may again be made 
in a day without danger of a permanent diminution of 
the game. 

When I first went to shoot in Kansas the birds 
were abundant. We drove out but a short distance 
from a little village in the central part of the State, 
and the dogs soon found and pointed a covey. There 
was more unbroken ground than cultivated fields, and 
the birds when flushed were scattered in the prairie 
grass, and we had little difficulty in making large bags. 

The wide, brown prairies, level or gently undu- 
lated, stretched away in every direction until they 
met the sky. The small houses, more often cabins 
or dugouts, were scattered at long intervals. There 
were few fences, and no sign-boards forbidding the 
shooting. The drive in the fresh, cool air of the 
morning was followed by rapid shooting, and in the 
heat of the day we rested often for several hours and 
again cast off the dogs in the afternoon and enjoyed 
the sport until sundown. There was no restraint of 
any kind ; no law to limit the bag ; no irate farmer 
ordered us off. The sportsman who goes to shoot 
the prairie-grouse to-day will do well to get per- 
mission in advance to shoot over the farms and look 
up the law of the State he proposes to shoot in. 



THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE ^\ 

Going out one season with some army officers from 
Fort Leavenworth as the guest of a railway official, 
in a private car, the engineer whistled when the 
grouse flushed before his engine and stopped while 
we went in pursuit of the birds. There were but one 
or two trains daily and the car seldom had to seek a 
siding to avoid them. We had Gordon setters, Eng- 
lish setters and pointers, young and old, and they 
found and pointed the birds equally well. It was late 
in August and the pointers suffered less from the heat 
and were on that account the more serviceable dogs. 
Use No. 7 or 8 shot early in the season ; 5 or 6 later. 

THE HEATH-HEN 

The earlier ornithologists regarded the heath-hen 
as identical with the pinnated-grouse or prairie- 
chicken of the Western prairies. It is closely allied 
to the latter bird and so much like it in pattern and 
color markings as to be easily mistaken for it. The 
present habits of the two birds are, however, different, 
since the heath-hen is found in the woods, its favorite 
haunt being in scrub-oaks, where it feeds largely on 
acorns and berries, going out, as the ruffed-grouse 
goes, to the open fields for grain. The term heath- 
hen seems inappropriate now that the bird is an 
arborial species, but it may indicate that it was found 
in the open years ago, when it was distributed over 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey, 
and Pennsylvania. It is now almost exterminated, and 
all that remain are in a limited area of about forty 
square miles on the island of Martha's Vineyard, 



72 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

Mass. Here they arc strictly protected, and Brewster 
says they are in no present dang-er of extermination. 
According to present calculations there are not more 
than two or three hundred birds remaining. 

From this source the clubs of Massachusetts and 
Long Island might possibly restock their club grounds, 
if the game officers of Massachusetts would permit it, 
and the experiment is well worth trying, since this 
grouse would prove a valuable addition to any game 
preserve. The experiment was once tried of stocking 
the preserve of the Robin's Island Club, on the island 
of that name in Peconic Bay, with prairie-grouse from 
the West, but the birds all flew away, probably to Con- 
necticut, since one was reported to have been seen 
there. 

Brewster says the heath-hen weighs on an average 
one pound less than the prairie-grouse. Samuels, in 
his "Northern and Eastern Birds" (published in 1883), 
gives the pinnated grouse, or prairie-hen, as a former 
inhabitant of Massachusetts and other Eastern States, 
and says it is not now to be found in this section, ex- 
cept on Martha's Vineyard. 

A friend of the writer shot one of these birds some 
years ago on Martha's Vineyard, brought it to New 
York and had it mounted by a taxidermist. Upon 
learning of the penalty for his offence, however, he was 
not much inclined to discuss the occurrence. 



IX 

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 

FOR many reasons I regard the sharp-tail as the 
best American g-rousc. Its flight is similar to that 
of the prairie-grouse, if anything more swift and well 
sustained, its gray plumage, effectively marked with 
white and black, is more attractive, the pointed tail 
gives it a trim appearance, its flesh is equal to the best, 
and it lies well to the dogs. The country where it 
dwells is better suited to the use of dogs than the prairie, 
by reason of the cooler temperature and the abundance 
of water in the many lakes and ponds. 

The range of the sharp-tailed grouse and the two 
sub-species (which so closely resemble the species as to 
be of no importance to sportsmen) is from Northern 
Illinois and Wisconsin to the central portions of Alaska. 
The prairie sharp-tailed grouse is found as far south as 
New Mexico. The Columbian sharp-tail is found on 
both sides of the Rocky Mountains, eastward to Mon- 
tana, Dakota, and Wyoming, southward to Utah, 
Northern Nevada, and Northeastern California. These 
birds are most abundant in the Dakotas, Montana, on 
the plains of Eastern Oregon and Washington, and in 
the British possessions from Manitoba west. When I 
first went to shoot in Dakota — there was but one Dakota 
then — I found the sharp-tailed grouse very abundant, 

73 



74 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

but during my visit of several weeks' duration I shot 
only one or two of the pinnated or prairie-grouse. It 
has been well settled, however, that the common 
prairie-hen follows civilization to the Northwest, and 
these birds are increasing in Dakota. Many of them 
now find their way to the same bag with the sharp- 
tails, and since variety is pleasing, they have made 
their common range the most desirable grouse land in 
America. I can imagine no better grouse preserves 
than those which will soon occupy all the country 
from Minnesota and the valley of the Red River of the 
North to Eastern Oregon and Washington. The vast 
number of small lakes and ponds and the little streams 
and sloughs overgrown with reeds and rushes and 
wild rice, are full of the best ducks that fly, both 
the sea-ducks, such as the canvas-backs and red-heads, 
and the shoal-water mallards, teal, wood-duck, and all 
the river-ducks or dabblers. Many remain in North 
Dakota to build their nests, and when chicken-shooting 
I have often seen a pond full of young mallards and 
teal, and once made a double shot, killing a duck and 
a chicken, a large mallard and a swift-flying sharp-tail. 
The sharp-tailed grouse is very similar in its habits to 
the prairie-grouse. It struts and scratches and fights 
in the spring; many performing at a time on the 
scratching places, and as the birds bow and slip past 
each other with their tails up they present an amusing 
appearance, which has been compared to the dancing 
of a minuet. 

I have observed the great sage-grouse performing 
in the same way, and the cocks of both species often 
get to fighting, as dancers have been known to do at 



THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 75 

other balls, and the cause of the tight is always the 
same — rivalry. 

The nest of the sharp-tail is built on the ground, and 
contains from twelve to fifteen or even more eggs. The 
coyote and the many prairie falcons are their chief nat- 
ural enemies, and these are so abundant that it seems re- 
markable how the sharp-tails manage to survive. The 
hawks, though not very wild, usually managed to keep 
just out of range of our guns. I often observed many 
of them sitting on the tops of the telegraph poles, and 
many were always in sight sailing overhead. They 
did not seem to be afraid of a team, and a friend often 
dropped out of our wagon, and walked behind it until 
within easy range of a hawk on a pole, and as he 
stepped out to shoot, it was amusing to see the 
alarmed bird jump into the air only to fall dead to his 
unerring aim. A few steel-traps placed on the tele- 
graph poles and in other likely places, would yield a 
rich harvest of hawks, and prove a great benefit to both 
the chickens and the ducks. At night a pack of coyotes 
often came quite near our camp and howled, in their 
dismal warbling fashion, their desire for our birds 
which were hungup in the trees. 

The sharp-tail weighs about two pounds; sometimes 
as much as two and one-half. It feeds on g:rain, seeds, 
berries, and insects, and its flesh is always in tine con- 
dition for the table, and the young birds are tender and 
delicious. I prefer all grouse broiled quickly before a 
fire, but they are very good cooked in any way do- 
mestic chickens are, and in the winter they may be 
stewed or parboiled to advantage like domestic fowls 
of mature age. Although the sharp tails, like all other 



^6 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

gallinaceous birds, are protectively marked and rely 
upon concealment, they are seen more often than the 
prairie grouse on the ground, or sitting on the wheat 
shocks, and on frosty mornings sitting on the branches 
of the trees which grow about the streams. They 
stand high on their legs and cock u}^ their pointed tails 
like a wren, and present a singular appearance when 
the long neck is outstretched, as it generally is when 
on the lookout. In the slang of the daj^ they might be 
termed " rubber-necks." Upon approaching the birds, 
however, when they are thus visible, the}- disappear as 
if by magic. Those sitting on the shocks fly away 
or drop into the stubble ; the " rubber-necks " are 
shortened, the bodies fade out of sight. Although the 
stubble or grass may be short and thin and you walk 
directly to the place where the birds were seen a mo- 
ment before and look carefully about, not a feather 
will be visible. As you are about to step on a bird, 
however, he bursts forth with a roar of wings, and flies 
rapidly, usually clucking as do the prairie-grouse and 
sage-cocks (tuck-a-tuck-tuck-tuck, repeated rapidly) as 
if scolding you for the disturbance. Bestir yourself 
rapidly if you would tumble the gray-cock into the 
stubble. In an instant he will be out of range. 

Once, shooting with an Indian agent, we had 
scattered a flock of sharp-tails, and as I approached 
the spot where I had marked one, a bird went out and 
I killed it, supposing it was the one marked down. 
The agent called to me from the wagon that my bird 
was a few feet farther on, and going to the place in- 
dicated, I carefully looked about, without being able to 
discover it. I was about to give it up, when I almost 



THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE tj 

stepped on tlicbird, wliich arose with a loud whin-, but 
I was fortunate en()ui;h to bag' it. Tlie concealment was 
most remarkable since at no place was the grass much 
longer than the bird's legs. The above incident was 
but one of many which ])roved that the bird, although 
more willing to expose itself to view, was as good at con- 
cealment as the partridge, ruffed-grouse, or woodcock. 
Roosevelt refers to passing through a flock of sharp- 
tails without seeing a bird on the ground, and glancing 
back, to see all the long necks outstretched in the 
grass, intently watching him, I have never seen the 
prairie-grouse exhibit any such curiosity, and it is im- 
usual in the shooting season to see those birds at all 
until they are on the wing. 

One day at Fort Totten, the Indian agent came to 
invite me to shoot with him. He had a good pair of 
horses hitched to a light spring wagon and one of his 
Indian policemen (Mr. Ironlightning, I cannot write 
his Sioux name) sat beside him. An orange and white 
setter was in the wagon, a big, strong dog I had shot 
over often before. We drove out a short distance, and, 
releasing the dog, he went off like a greyhound on the 
wide, gray plain. Soon he went more slowly, and it 
was evident from his actions that he was approaching 
birds. We drove forward as he settled to a point, and 
the Indian held the reins while we went in and flushed 
a covey of fifteen or twenty birds. The shots were easy, 
and at the report of the four barrels in one, two — three, 
four order, feathers white and gray hung in the air, 
and four plump birds fell dead in the grass. The sur- 
vivors did not fly far, and slipping shells into theguns, 
we moved forward afoot, and soon were busy with the 



78 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

scattered birds. There were but few misses and it was 
not long before we had shot them all, excepting- a few 
which got a way while the guns were empty. 

The taciturn Indian sat in the wagon and marked 
the birds, but the few that were left were widely scat- 
tered and we proceetled to cast off the dog and search 
for a new covey. An officer from the garrison with 
an Irish setter joined us, and on one occasion when the 
dogs pointed a covev the birds arose, as they often do, 
but a few at a time, in rapid succession, and reloading 
quickly we killed them all before retrieving a bird. 
Although the distances were great, the dogs were used 
to them and were fast and untiring, and we found one 
covey after another and had excellent sport with them 
all. A few ducks were shot as they flew from the ponds, 
an occasional snipe went out with harsh squeak and 
zig-zag flight from the wet grass about the ponds, and 
fountl a place in the bag. Such was the shooting of 
the sharp-tails a few years ago, and such it is to-day in 
the Dakotas, Montana, and from Manitoba to Washing- 
ton and Oregon. There are some restraints, however. 
A gun license is usually required, costing as much as 
$40 in Wyoming, and where the sport is best there is a 
legal limit to the bag — ten birds in a day in Oregon, 
twentv-five in Dakota. 

A limit of ten birds per day makes a short day's 
shooting when the birds are abundant. It may be 
necessary to save the game when the shooting is fine 
and gunners are numerous, but, as I have observed 
before, this limit may well be increased when the birds 
are well cared for on the game preserve, their natural 
enemies destroyed and food supplied them in the winter. 



THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 79 

A recent writer for Field and Stream says he has shot 
into packs (coveys no doubt are meant) of both birds 
(prairie and sharp-tailed grouse) in the same field. 
" Some years ago," he adds, " I killed an old mother- 
bird with six young. The mother was a genuine 
prairie-hen ; the young were mixed. Three of them 
favored the father bird (sharp-tail) even to the tail 
with mixed coloration, breasts barred with V-shaped 
markings J the others had tails like the mother, mixed 
coloration with V-shaped marks on sides of whitish 
breast." Several varieties of pheasants are known to 
interbreed on the preserves in England, and it may 
be that the grouse will do the same on our grouse 
preserves when the two birds are closely associated. 

The sharp-tailed grouse is probabl}'^ extinct in 
Northern Illinois. A close season now in force in 
Wisconsin may save the birds in that State, but there 
is no bird whose salvation is more dependent upon 
the preserve, in my opinion, than the sharp-tailed 
grouse, and in fact all of the grouse of the open 
country. 

The ornithologist Coues, the best authority upon 
our Western birds, says : " The pinnated-grouse pre- 
fers to glean over cultivated fields, while the wilder 
sharp-tailed clings to his native heath. The railway 
will take the former along and warn the latter awa3^" 

In an earlier book I expressed the opinion at vari- 
ance with this high authority that the true reason for 
the disappearance of the sharp-tails from the eastern 
part of their range was to be found in the shot-gun. 
I have observed the sharp-tails where farms were 
being opened and found they were very fond of the 



8o GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

wheat-stubble. Roosevelt describes killing one hun- 
dred and five sharp-tails one day while shooting with 
his brother, over inferior dogs, in the stubbles to the 
eastward of his ranch on the Little Missouri. I have 
seen no reason to change my opinion that the sharp- 
tailed grouse are not driven away by the railway, but 
on the contrary, thrive in a wheat-farming country ; 
and if sufficiently protected they will increase and 
multiply so as to afford the finest grouse-shooting in 
America for many years to come. One season I took 
a ride of about a thousand miles through the country 
inhabited by sharp-tails. Starting at Fort Buford, 
North Dakota, we ascended the Yellowstone Valley 
from the mouth of the river to Fort Keogh, Montana, 
and went thence up the valley of the Rose-bud ; 
crossed the Panther Mountains to the Tongue River 
and proceeded to the Big Horn Mountains; thence 
northward along the Big Horn and Little Big Horn 
to the Yellowstone, and crossing that river we re- 
turned again to Forts Keogh and Buford. The 
sharp-tails had not then been shot at. It was just 
before the surrender of Sitting Bull, and we travelled 
over country which was well preserved by the Indians. 
The sharp-tailed grouse were very abundant in many 
of the valleys and out on the plains, but no more so, I 
am satisfied, than they were some years later on the 
stubble fields of Dakota before they were much perse- 
cuted. Sharp-tails do not like small farms, but 
neither do the prairie-grouse, and for the same reason 
— in a closely settled country there are too many 
guns. It is no wonder when the shooting began in 
July and the birds brought good prices in the Chicago 



THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 8i 

markets, when there was no bag limit, no license, no 
game warden or game law, that the birds were 
" warned " away from Northern Illinois. They might 
readily be restored, in my opinion, with the prairie- 
hen to many of the farms of Illinois ; but the experi- 
ment would not be worth while unless the birds were 
closely protected for a period of years and thereafter 
carefully guarded on preserves of large size where the 
shooting would necessarily be limited to the increase 
of the year. There are many vast preserves owned 
by Chicago men where the ducks most congregate. 
A preserve with the sharp-tails restored might well 
be laid out adjoining the marshes frequented by the 
ducks. On such a preserve the partridges, woodcock, 
and ruffed-grouse would need but little more than 
protection in the oak groves against over-shooting 
to increase and multiply, and pheasants might be 
added to advantage. Before it is too late I hope to 
see the sharp-tails well established on many preserves 
where the race will no longer be in yearly danger of 
extermination. 

I have referred at other times to the picturesque 
features of the country where the sharp-tailed grouse 
dwell. The many little lakes and ponds reflecting the 
image of the sky suggested to the Indian the poetical 
word Minnesota, the land of sky-tinted waters; Minne- 
waukon, the lake of the Great Spirit, a large, salt lake 
second in size to that in Utah, lies well out on the 
range. The villages of the Mandans, Sioux, and Crows, 
and their inhabitants in bright costumes, feathered 
and beaded, were picturesque in the extreme. Much of 
the sharp-tail country is a land of wild roses and sun- 



82 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

flowers, and small wild fruits, where the buffalo, elk, 
deer, and antelope were but little molested when I first 
be^an to shoot. Such was the land when Custer fell, 
and for a few years thereafter. The railroad now runs 
over it. Towns have taken the places of the Indian 
tepees. The buffaloes are exterminated, the antelope 
are nearly gone, and the sharp-tails must go to the 
game preserve or vanish from the earth. 



X 

THE SAGE-COCK— COCK OF THE PLAINS 

MANY years ago 1 rode out from Fort Bridger 
with Professor Marsh and his assistants es- 
corted by a company of troops from the garrison. 
The expedition was against the dead of long ago, 
whose fossil remains lay buried in the Terre Mauvais, 
or Bad Lands of the Green River country, in what 
is now the States of Utah and Wyoming. I had 
asked to accompany the expedition and do part of the 
work, not on account of an interest in paleontological 
research, but from a desire to visit an unknown land 
in comfort and safety and to shoot at the living. 

We rode away from the garrison over a vast plain 
overgrown with the artemesia or wild sage. Faraway 
to the south were the bad lands or buttes, strangely fash- 
ioned by erosion, and, beyond, the snow-capped peaks 
of the Uintah Mountains. I carried a double gfun 
across the saddle, and we had not gone far before I 
dropped behind the others, riding somewhat to the 
left of their trail, in the hope that I might get a shot 
at something. Suddenly a large bird, nearly as big as a 
turkey, arose from my horse's feet, and with a tremen- 
dous roar of wings flew off across the plain, loudly 
clucking as he went. Not stopping to consider if my 
horse would stand the firing I pitched the gun to my 
shoulder and had the satisfaction of seeing the bird 

83 



84 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE 

fall dead. When I picked him up I found that I had 
a very heavy bird, weighing at least six or seven 
pounds. Its general color was gray, with a large 
black patch below. It had a long tail of stiff feathers 
and tufts of white on the shoulders. It was three 
times as large as any grouse I had ever seen on the 
prairies, but I suspected the truth — it was the sage- 
cock, or cock of the plains, the largest grouse in the 
world save the capercailzie of Europe. 

Hanging my prize to the saddle I remounted and 
rode about in the sage hoping to have another shot, 
but the bird was solitary, or I failed to move his com- 
panion. Shortly afterward a large animal bounded out 
of the sage and made off with tremendous leaps. An 
antelope, thought I, as I made a snap shot at it, but 
when I picked it up the extremely long ears made it 
evident that I had bagged the jack, or jackass rabbit, 
the animal which had been recently exploited by Mark 
Twain in " Roughing It." When I arrived at our 
camp my identification of both species was verified, 
but neither the cook nor the plainsmen who acted as 
our guides seemed to regard my performance as he- 
roic as could be desired. 

I soon learned that in the presence of larger game, 
such as the elk and mule-deer, neither the sage-cock 
nor the jack-rabbit were regarded as worthy marks or 
as desirable food. 

There has been much controversy as to the merits 
of the sage-cock on the table, and I had occasion to 
review the authorities, as the lawyers say, on this point 
in a former work. All shades of opinion will be there 
found expressed, in terms varying from "quinine 



THE SAGE-COCK 85 

brute " to " delicious," but the truth of the matter is 
that these birds, like others, often receive a flavor from 
their food, and when the wild sage is their exclusive 
diet they have a more or less bitter taste. When, how- 
ever, the birds are young and have been feeding on 
grasshoppers, their flesh is as good as that of the sharp- 
tails or prairie-grouse. 

Before we made our second camp I shot a number 
of these grouse, and selecting a young and tender bird, 
plucked him and broiled him on a stick, and I found 
the flesh, as Lieutenant-Colonel Dodge describes it — 
" juicy, tender, and delicate as a spring-chicken, besides 
having the richest game flavor." I am surprised that 
the ornithologists are almost to a man arrayed against 
this bird as an edible dish. 

The sage-cock was made known to the world by 
Lewis and Clark in their report of their expedition, 
and they named it the cock of the plains. It inhabits 
the sage plains from Western Dakota, Colorado, Ne- 
braska, and Kansas to the Pacific States, and south to 
about thirty-five degrees. It never wanders away from 
the sage. The birds do not fly to the trees, but I have 
found them in the shade of the cottonwoods along the 
banks of streams, only, however, where the wild sage 
extended up close to the trees. They are often found 
far out on the sage-plains many miles from water, and 
the presence of ponds or streams does not seem neces- 
sary to their existence. Their flight is the same as 
that of the other grouse, alternately flapping and sail- 
ing, but the noise produced by the wings is multiplied 
and has been compared to a burst of thunder. The 
cocks measure two and one-half feet or more, and the 



S6 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

hens are somewhat smaller. It is remarkable that 
such large birds can conceal themselves as they do, 
and they often refuse to take wing until fairly kicked 
out of the bush. They lie well to the dogs, but it is 
important to take water in the wagon for these animals, 
as it often is on the prairies, to prevent their suffering 
from thirst. 

My shooting at these birds was mostly done from the 
saddle while on the march. When we flushed a covey 
of birds I took a shot at them, and marking those that 
flew away to the particular bush where they settled, 
rode at once to the spot and sometimes dismounted 
to shoot at the scattered birds. Upon several occa- 
sions I went out with a friend especially to shoot them, 
riding here and there (we had no dog) until the horse 
flushed a covey, and following them so long as we could 
make them take wing. Birds often escaped by hiding in 
the sage and refusing to fly. The most likely places 
seemed to be depressions where the water evidently 
flowed in wet seasons and little knolls adjacent, but we 
stumbled upon the birds almost anywhere in the sage, 
and often made very good bags. It was next to im- 
possible to miss one, since the shots were always in the 
open and the marks large. The birds required hard 
hitting, however, to bring them down, and I would not 
advise the use of shot smaller than number 5 or 6. A 
wounded bird is difficult to recover without a dog 
where the sage grows thickly, and I ahvays tried to kill 
the birds outright. The side shots, or those at quar- 
tering birds, are more likely to be fatal than those at 
birds going straight away, since the shot then pene- 
trates the lighter feathers beneath the wings. 



THE SAGE-COCK 87 

T"he horses used in the West are generally trained to 
stand without hitching when the reins are thrown over 
their heads, and I soon taught my horse to follow me 
about when I walked up to the scattered birds. Upon 
one occasion he became alarmed at a party of Indians 
which rode near, and went off at a gallop, not stopping 
until he reached the camp, some miles away. The 
Indians were friendly Shoshones, and seemed amused 
at my losing my horse. I had a long tramp back to 
the camp, and found a few of the big grouse a burden. 

The most desirable places to shoot sage-grouse are 
in the vicinity of the mountains. The stream neces- 
sary for a camp will be found full of trout, and an ex- 
pedition may be made into the forest for the blue- 
grouse, or for deer. The sage-brush makes a good 
fire. I have more recently shot sage-grouse in many 
places, usually only a few now and then to add variety 
to the camp table. Their habits are everywhere the 
same. They are too easy as marks to be very desir- 
able game. In addition to the jack-rabbits, I have 
seen many of the smaller hares in the haunts of the 
sage-cock ; a band of antelope was not unusual some 
years ago, but these graceful animals are seldom seen 
to-day. 



XI 

THE RUFFED-GROUSE 

THE ruffed-grouse is the bird, as I have observed, 
so often called partridge in New England, and 
pheasant in the West and South. It is one of the most 
beautiful of the birds having protective markings; and 
here I may say, for the benefit of the non-ornithological 
reader, that the birds protectively marked are the birds 
whose plumage harmonizes with their surroundings, so 
as to render them invisible to their enemies, and these 
birds all trust much to concealment. Protectively 
marked game birds are usually of a brown or gray 
color, variously marked with yellowish-tan and black 
and white. 

The ruffed-grouse is a very handsome bird of trim 
outline, alert and game-like in appearance, brown and 
gray, but effectively marked with velvety black and 
white, which contrast well with brown and gray tones. 
The broad band across the tail and the long silken 
feathers which form the ruff are glossy black. On the 
back are arrow-head or heart-shaped spots of light 
gray. The legs are covered with feathers (the distin- 
guishing mark of the grouse) of brownish white. 
The ruffed-grouse has long been called the " king of 
game birds." When the ruffed-grouse struts and 
drums, he elevates his tail (which is spread out like a 
fan) and the black ruff about his neck, and as he pran- 



THE RUFFED-GROUSE 89 

ces about on his favorite drumming-log, stump, or stone, 
he makes a loud noise which resembles somewhat the 
roll of a drum. It begins with several low thumps, 
and these are slow and measured, but they increase 
rapidly in force and frequency until the deep noise is 
produced which can be heard for a mile in the woods. 
The sound, which is ventriloquial in character, was sup- 
posed formerly to be vocal and many so describe it. 
Enough has been written on the subject to fill a book 
of large size. An abstract of the lore on this subject 
will be found in my former work, " The True Game 
Birds." Many ornithologists follow Audubon in de- 
scribing the drumming noise as being made with the 
wings striking the body, but it seems from later obser- 
vations that the wings of the bird smite nothing but 
the air — "not even his own proud breast." This 
grouse was given its technical name bonasa, since the 
noise was supposed to be vocal and to resemble the 
bellowing of the bull. 

Ruffed-grouse are distributed everywhere in the 
woods from New England and Eastern Canada to 
Oregon and south to Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkan- 
sas. They prefer forests of large extent, since they are 
great wanderers afoot, and are more often found in the 
hills and mountains in the East, but they were also 
very abundant in the oak forests of Northern Indiana 
and Illinois, and are to-day abundant in many places 
in Michigan, Minnesota, in the Rocky Mountain re- 
gion, and the forests of Oregon. The flesh of this 
grouse is white and delicious. As an object of pur- 
suit he is now far more difficult than the prairie- 
grouse or sharp-tailed-grouse. To write another equa- 



90 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

tion, which will be understood by fishermen at 
least, the ruffed-grouse is to the prairie-hen as the wily 
black bass to a school of yellow perch. The ruffed- 
grouse is often found solitary or in a group of two 
or three during the shooting season. He will often 
slip away from the dog and rise out of range or lie 
very close until the sportsman has passed, and then 
burst forth with a roar of wings in the evident hope 
of scaring him to death. 

This grouse builds its nest on the ground, and there 
are usually ten or twelve eggs. By September ist the 
young birds are strong on the wing. I have urged 
September 15th as the opening day of the season for 
these birds. In most of the States the season opens 
much later. The objection to an early date is that 
men going out for grouse are tempted to shoot at all 
game, and the partridges are not old enough to shoot 
in September. Sportsmen, however, are to-day more 
inclined to regard the game laws, and the market gun- 
ners should everywhere be kept out of the woods. 

Before the ruffed-grouse have been much pursued 
they are quite tame, and often fly to the branches of 
trees quite within range. There are few places to-day 
where the grouse are so uneducated. In some remote 
places in Idaho or other parts of the Rocky Mountain 
region and in unfrequented places in the Maine woods 
or elsewhere where shooters do not go, they are no 
doubt as tame as they once were everywhere. 

When the grouse are not too wild they are hunted 
with a small dog, which drives them to the branches of 
the trees and attracts their attention, while the gunner 
(the reader will observe I do not say sportsman) ap- 



THE RUFFED-GROUSE 91 

proaches and shoots them down. I would not have 
any friendship for a man who would shoot one of these 
magnificent birds sitting and gazing at him from the 
branch of a tree. 

Forester says that "the constantly repeated tale that 
the ruffed-grouse when it alights in trees in com- 
panies, will allow the whole flock to be shot down one 
by one without stirring, provided the shooter takes the 
precaution of shooting the one which sits the lowest on 
the tree first, is as fabulous as it is ridiculous." I have 
been informed, however, by reliable persons that this 
not only can be, but has been, done repeatedly. The 
Canada-grouse have been shot in the same way, as we 
shall see later. I have seen the blue- or dusky-grouse 
equally tame in the Rocky Mountains, but, of course, 
never tried to kill all on a tree. I have repeatedly 
found the ruffed-grouse in cultivated fields where they 
had gone in search of food, but only in such fields as 
were adjacent to the woods, into which they went on 
whirring wings at the first alarm. 

Ruffed-grouse are always found in wild, romantic, 
and picturesque places. They are especially fond of 
craggy mountain sides and deep and impenetrable 
swamps. A small woodland will not hold them long 
unless it be one of a series of woods with intervening 
fields. Early in the season all the birds of a brood will 
be found together, but I believe there are never more 
than one brood associated. In this they differ from 
the grouse of the open country, which pack, as we 
have observed, into large flocks as the season ad- 
vances. 

There is much diversity as to the field merits of this 



92 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

bird. He does not lie so well to the dog as the com- 
mon partridge, Bob-white, or as the grouse of the open 
country. It is unusual to make a large bag of ruffed- 
grouse ; a half dozen birds in a day is a very good bag, 
and will represent many more shots than the same 
number of partridges or prairie-grouse, since the birds 
fly very rapidly and the shots are usually in heavy 
cover. 

The birds lie better to the dogs when there are many 
fallen logs and much underbrush to impede their run- 
ning, and in close thickets, especially thickets with 
grass in them. I have usually found them lying close 
in swampy places where the ground was soft and over- 
grown with tufts of grass and covered with fallen logs. 
When the birds are discovered in such places the sport 
is indeed magnificent. But when the birds are few in 
number and are found on vast mountain sides where 
there is no such cover, and the ground is quite open 
beneath the trees, they will often run from the dogs in 
a most exasperating way and fl}^ from one mountain 
side to another; much time is consumed in following 
them, to say nothing of the arduous work, and the 
dogs are often useless. 

I have more often shot ruffed-grouse when in pur- 
suit of other game. Following the dogs to the woods 
when partridge shooting, I have found them standing 
ruffed-grouse, and as soon as the larger birds were 
discovered, I have given them my immediate attention 
and followed them so long as there was any chance for 
success. When I have gone out especially to shoot 
these birds I have usually not found them in sufficient 
numbers to make the shooting as lively as I like to see 




■^7 *■ 




A DIIFKULT SHOT AT A RUrFED GROUSE 



THE RUFFED-GROUSE 93 

it. There is a chance for the exercise of much skill 
and intelligence on the part of the man and dog, and 
they who know best the particular localities in the vast 
forests frequented by the birds, and who can go to 
them most quickly and quietly, who in a word, can find 
and approach the game the best, will make the largest 
bags. I have known of a bag of twenty or more birds 
in a day, but as I have observed, a smaller bag is the 
rule. Forester records a bag of seven birds made by 
two guns in four days of resolute fagging with two 
brace of setters, as good, he says, as any in the country, 
and announced he never would go again in pursuit of 
these birds. For my part I am especially fond of a 
ramble in the forest, no matter what may be the 
result. 

Much pleasure is derived from seeing the dogs 
repeatedly point birds in the open ; there is fair sport in 
shooting at the prairie-grouse late in September, when 
they fly swiftly, and when fifty, one hundred, or even 
more shots are often fired in a day. But the ramble in 
the forest has its magic charm not to be found in the 
prairie. There is " a pleasure in the pathless woods." 
The magnificent colors of the autumn trees are over- 
hung with the blue veil of the Indian summer. The 
breeze soughing in the branches does not mar the 
restful quiet. The solemnity is pleasing, quieting, 
and causes one to rejoice that he is far from the 
noisy rattle of the town. So still it is that the nut 
which the squirrel drops sounds loudly on the leaf; 
the twig snapped under foot crackles noisily. The 
murmur and splashing of the tiny brook, the rust- 
ling of the autumn leaves are sounds familiar but 



94 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

ever charming"-. The lunch beside the cool spring, 
with moss}^ logs or rocks for chairs and table, is eaten 
with a mountain hunter's appetite, and the few birds 
in the bag are handled and admired more than once. 
Meanwhile the good setters who have worked hard are 
dozing on the grassy mat where the sunlight falls ; the 
pipes are lighted and the stories of the shots most dif- 
ficult are told again. "Just as I pushed the hemlock 
branch aside with one foot over log — Whir! Whir! 
Whir! " etc. The sportsman knows. The novice will 
find the lesson pleasing. 

The ruffed-grouse are fond of wild grapes and also 
of whortleberries, and in a general way I may say 
here that the knowledge of what birds are feeding 
upon is always valuable to the sportsman. I have 
often found the ruffed-grouse in the vicinity of the 
wild grape-vines. Early in the season they ma}' be 
found on the tops of low mountains feeding in the 
whortleberry patches. Later in the year they move 
down the mountains, and in November the birds will 
not be so high on the hills as earlier. There is an un- 
certainty about the sport which lends an additional 
zest since we prize most that which is difficult of 
attainment. 

Men who are especially fond of the sport carefully 
study the habits of the birds, and are, of course, more 
successful than those who shoot them only in con- 
nection with other game. 

It is a good rule when a bird flushes wild or is 
missed to follow him up immediately. If he does not 
lie well to the dog the second time, keep after him, 
noting his line of flight and after several flushes he 



THE RUFFED-GROUSE 95 

may decide to rely upon concealment and will pos- 
sibly present a very iair shot. 

When the dog fails to find the bird on or near the 
ground where he has been marked, look carefully in the 
trees, going over them a branch at a time. The 
grouse will sit so closely and so still that he may be 
easily overlooked. The birds are partial to woodland 
roads, and when the road is not much travelled it will 
pay to run the dogs over it and the adjoining thickets. 

The ruffed-grouse have never been domesticated and, 
of course, cannot be handled in a preserve as the pheas- 
ants are, but when they are not too much shot at and 
when their natural enemies, furred and feathered, are 
destroyed they will increase in number, and I see no 
reason when food is supplied to them, why they should 
not do very well in the game preserve. I recently saw 
a number of these birds on a preserve on Long Island 
where the woodlands, small in extent, are mere thickets 
of scrub-oak and pine, and I was convinced there were 
more birds there now than many years ago when the 
grounds were open to every gunner who came to 
shoot, and every boy who came to trap, and when the 
markets were prepared to dispose of the birds at good 
prices. The prohibition of the sale of these birds has 
done much. Like the other birds they were rapidly 
being exterminated. 

The ruffed-grouse are found in the Rocky Mountains 
associated with the blue-grouse, and the Canada, or 
spruce-grouse (the Western variety called Franklin 
grouse). Where these three magnificent birds come to- 
gether there should be another National Park. 



XII 

THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 

nr^HE ruffed-grouse has a rival in beauty in the 
■^ blue- or dusky-grouse of the West. This bird 
is much larger and will weigh as much as three and 
one-half pounds. Here as elsewhere among the game 
birds the variety-makers have been at work, and have 
given us two sub-species, so much alike, however, that 
I must frankly say, although I may have shot them all, 
I could not know the difference between them. As a 
matter of fact the differences are slight and may be 
regarded b}-- the sportsman as purely local or climatic. 

The blue-grouse are tJie grouse of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Both spruce-grouse and ruffed-grouse are 
found associated with them in places, but from Ari- 
zona and New Mexico to the British possessions 
one may find the magnificent blue-grouse, and often 
find it abundant. They are also found on the Coast 
Range, and thence eastward to the Rocky Mountains. 

The general color of this bird is a slate-blue. Its 

throat is white and it is marked above and on the 

wings with black. The general bluish-gray color, 

often quite dark, and its size render it unmistakable. 

The only bird at all like it is the Canada-grouse, 

often called spruce- or black-grouse. The latter bird is 

smaller than the ruffed-grouse, however, while the 

blue-grouse is nearly twice as large. 

96 



THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 97 

Much that has been said about the king of game- 
birds applies to the dusky- or blue-grouse. I once said 
he was the " King of the West." In the spring he hoots 
and struts like a turkey-cock. In the early autumn 
he lies fairly well to the dogs, fully as well as the 
ruffed-grouse. His flesh is white, or nearly so, and 
quite equal to that of his Eastern rival. 

After observing the blue-grouse some years ago I 
could easily imagine how tame the ruffed-grouse were 
before forming man's acquaintance, and I did not 
wonder at the local name of " fool-hen," which is 
applied to the Western birds, and which has found its 
way into the legislation of Montana, where it is now 
unlawful to kill more than twenty "fool-hens " in a day. 

When I first went to the Rocky Mountains there 
were no restraints of any kind upon the shooting, 
except at one point where there was an uncertainty 
as to what the Utes were doing. Blue-grouse flew 
up to the lowest branches of the trees and stood 
looking at me in the friendliest kind of way, and 
I of course had no desire to shoot at such con- 
fiding marks. A few were shot with the rifle (shoot- 
ing off the head) now and then to add variety to our 
fare. I sometimes took a shot at them on the wing in 
the woodland glades. The big-game hunters often 
had serious and sinister objections to the use of the 
gun, since it disturbed the larger game. We always 
had an abundance of meat — elk tenderloins, elk hearts, 
venison of both the black- and the white-tail deer, and 
wild-fowl and trout of large size, so that little attention 
was paid to the blue-grouse. 

The fool-hens are fool-hens no longer in many places. 



98 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

They have been rapidly taught what a man, a dog, and 
a gun mean, and have become "educated birds," as 
the partridge shooters say, as the towns have sprung 
into existence in the neighborhood of their haunts. 
One who has read Irving's account of the wild turkeys 
standing on the branches and gazing in stupid aston- 
ishment at the soldiers who shot them down, will be 
prepared to believe the tales of the former tameness of 
the blue-grouse, but it is to-day in many places as wild 
as the wildest ruffed-grouse, and if such traits are 
hereditary, as they no doubt are, it will remain one of 
the most difficult of all the gallinaceous birds which 
find a place in the sportsman's bag. 

The surroundings of the great blue-grouse are all ap- 
propriate. This magnificent bird has a magnificent 
background. As I have observed, he is nearly twice 
as large as his ruffed cousin of the East. His mountains 
are more than twice as high. His trees and rocks and 
crags are many times as big. His brooks are larger, 
and flow with louder noise ; their falls are more majes- 
tic. The fish, too — the mountain trout — are large and 
fine, far bigger than those of the Eastern brooks. 

There are many trees in the woods of California, 
Oregon, and other States where the blue grouse lives, 
besides the so-called big trees, Gigantea Sequoia, which 
grow to a height of several hundred feet. The ground 
is littered with cones of tremendous size. The blue- 
grouse wdicn moved from the ground can fly straight up 
to the branch of a tree beyond the range of a gun. The 
rifle is more often used to shoot them in many places, 
and in fact in all new countries it is the only weapon. 

In the late fall, about the middle of November, the 



THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 99 

blue-grouse disappear, and it is unusual to see a single 
specimen in places where they have been abundant 
until the following spring. This disappearance is as 
mysterious as the disappearance of the woodcock in 
the East. The bears which roam the blue-grouse 
woods also disappear in the winter, it is well known, 
and are not seen again until spring. Their where- 
abouts are known in a general way, but there is the 
greatest difference of opinion as to what becomes of the 
grouse. Some insist that they are migratory and go 
south. Many believe that they retire to the tops of 
the highest evergreens and pass the cold season as 
the bears do, in a state of torpor. As the birds subsist 
well on the leaves of the coniferse, and can always ob- 
tain sufficient water from the snow and raindrops on 
the leaves to supply their necessities, Dr. Suckley was 
of the opinion that the latter is the correct explanation, 
or that if migratory they are only partially so. The 
torpor is supposed to be but partial by those who ad- 
vance the torpor theory. 

There are places in Oregon where the blue-grouse, 
the pheasants, the rufted-grouse, and the sharp-tailed 
grouse may be found close enough together to be shot 
in a single day from one camp. But the daily bag to- 
day must be a small one. The limit there is ten birds. 
This is the law for upland game. The wild-fowl limit 
is fifty ducks. 

The gun for shooting blue-grouse is the 12-bore. The 
shot should be somewhat larger than that used on 
ruffed-grouse. I prefer No. 6 or 5 in the order named. 
No. 7 will do very well early in the season, when the 
birds are not wild and when most of them are young. 

LofC. 



XIII 

THE CANADA-GROUSE, SPRUCE-GROUSE, OR 
BLACK-GROUSE 

THE Canada-grouse and the Rocky Mountain 
species, known as the Franklin's grouse, are 
the same from the sportsman's point of view. They 
are the smallest of all the grouse excepting the ptar- 
migan, and, like the latter, they are seldom taken by 
sportsmen in the United States. 

The Canada-grouse is a bird of the Northern woods 
and inhabits the spruce forests of Maine, the Northern 
States, and the Canadian provinces, north to the 
Arctic region as far as the woods extend. The 
general color of the spruce-grouse is black. It is 
effectively marked below with white, and is a very 
handsome bird. It is often called the black-grouse on 
account of its color, but this name is more often ap- 
plied to a larger foreign bird. The female is lighter 
and brown in color. 

The Canada-grouse is more often seen by sportsmen 
who are in pursuit of big game, such as the moose, elk, 
and deer. They are not much molested and are quite 
tame, too tame to be interesting in most places. John 
Burroughs, describing a trip into Canada, says : " We 
came upon two or three broods of spruce-grouse in 
the road, so tame that one could have knocked them 
over with poles." The same writer found them 



THE CANADA-GROUSE loi 

common in the Adirondacks, and once shot eight in 
less than an hour, the eighth one, which was an old 
male, was killed with smooth pebble stones, his shot 
having given out. 

I have referred to the shooting of the entire flock of 
ruffed-grouse from a tree. There is a recent story in 
Field and Stream of the shooting in Nova Scotia of an 
entire flock of spruce-grouse which perched upon the 
nearest limbs of the hemlocks and never "stirred" 
until the covey was exterminated. " I am ashamed," 
says the writer, " when I think how soon that whole 
covey lay in a heap, tossed together in the path. 
But it was the sad penalty that the spruce-partridge 
always pays for its stupidity and too confiding dis- 
position when lumbermen or hunters are in need of 
meat." I have referred to these birds being taken 
with a looped string on the end of a fishing-pole. The 
reader will find this method of pursuit described and 
pictured in Scribncrs Monthly for August, 1877. 

The Rocky Mountain species differs but little, the 
chief difference is in the tail markings, and the reader 
who cares for such differences may find an illustration 
of the two tails in " North American Birds," by Baird 
Brewer and Ridgway. I do not care enough for such 
matters to try and remember the slight differences in 
the tail markings. They are both small black-grouse, 
beautifully marked with bars and dots of white below. 
They are equally tame and confiding and entitled to 
share with the blue-grouse the title of " fool-hen." 
As the larger game becomes scarce in the Western 
mountains they will receive more of the sportsman's 
attention, no doubt, and will soon become as wild as 



I02 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 

the ruffed-grouse of New England, when they may be 
regarded as desirable game. 

Audubon and Forester differ as to the table qualities 
of this bird. Audubon regards the flesh as edible only 
when the birds have fed on berries, and says in winter, 
when it feeds on the leaves of trees and other plants, 
the flesh is quite bitter and disagreeable. Forester 
says he has eaten it only in winter, and while he 
admits the almost resinous aromatic bitterness he 
pronounces it delicious in the extreme. The con- 
troversy on this point is similar to that over the sage- 
cock and other birds whose flesh is affected to a marked 
degree by their food. No doubt, late in the winter, 
when he has subsisted solely on spruce buds, the flesh 
of this grouse will prove unpleasant and unpalatable. 
When the spruce is but a part of his diet, the flavor, I 
can well imagine, is not objectionable, since I can stand 
a decided trace of the sage in the flesh of the sage- 
grouse, provided always he be young and tender. 



XIV 
THE PTARMIGAN 

THE ptarmigan is the smallest of all the grouse and 
is only found in the Arctic regions and high up 
in our Western mountains. It is fond of the snow, and, 
like theNorthern hare andsome otherbirds and animals, 
it turns white in winter for protection. The variety 
makers have been especially industrious with this race 
and have given us a long line of sub-species, but they 
are all small birds, gray and brown in summer and 
pure white in winter, excepting the tail, which contains 
black feathers in most of the varieties. The white-tailed 
j)tarmigan is the bird seen on the alpine summits of 
the mountains of Western North America, from Mex- 
ico to British America. This bird was some years 
ago fairly abundant in the mountains of Colorado, but 
it is now rare in most places. A friend who had some 
mines well up in the mountains told me that the birds 
came down to their camps in winter and that his miners 
killed many of them. They were not very wild and 
not difficult marks. Many no doubt were shot sitting, 
and it is no wonder that as the number of shot-guns 
increased, these handsome birds diminished. 

Although I went several times to the mountain tops 
in the Rocky Mountains to look for these birds, I never 
was fortunate enough to see one alive. 

In Alaska they are quite abundant, and the Indians 

103 



I04 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS-GROUSE 

capture many of them with snares. They are there 
found on the level plains and are shot like prairie-grouse. 
Lieutenant McConnell,of the revenue cutter Bear, wrote 
an excellent account of this sport for a magazine now 
out of print; this is quoted at length in " True Game 
Birds." The shooting was done in companj^ with 
some Esquimaux, who "pointed and retrieved," the 
lieutenant says, "in a way that would have put many 
a good bird-dog to shame." 

The ptarmigan is almost invisible in winter when it 
sits motionless on the snow; but the great snowy owl 
is said to find many of them, and the foxes are here, as 
elsewhere, the natural enemies of the grouse. 

The ptarmigans pack as soon as the young are full 
grown, and Mr. Tripp records seeing flocks containing 
one hundred or more in the mountains of Colorado. 
Their flight is well sustained and rapid, and they are 
able to fly great distances, but, like the prairie-grouse, 
when not much pressed they do not fly far. Mr. Tripp 
says that when seldom molested they are very tame, 
but when persistently pursued they become wild and 
leave the range of a shot-gun with surprising quickness. 
After several large flocks had been hunted for three or 
four days they grew so shy that it was difficult to ap- 
proach within gunshot, although at first they had been 
comparativel}^ tame. Nimble of foot, the ptarmigan 
frequently prefers to run away on the approach of 
danger rather than take wing, running over the rocks 
and leaping from point to point with great agility, 
stopping every little while to look at the object of 
alarm. " I sometimes chased them," Mr. Tripp says, 
"half a mile or more over the rocky, craggy ridges 



THE PTARMIGAN 105 

of the main range without being able to get within 
gunshot, or force them to take wing." 

The ptarmigan known as Welch's ptarmigan inhabits 
Newfoundland. It is described as a dark-grayish bird, 
with a bluish tinge on the plumage, which has been 
likened to the color of the sooty-grouse (the blue- 
grouse), while all the feathers are dotted with blackish 
white. 

Like all the others it is white in winter. At the 
time the check list of the American Ornithological 
Union was published there were listed no fewer than 
eight species and sub-species of the ptarmigan. Elliot 
in his recent book mentions two more, and "still they 
come " no doubt, or will come, as the various Aleutian 
islands are explored by ornithologists who delight in 
making new varieties. They might all belong to one 
flock, however, in winter, except the one called the 
white-tail ; and the summer dress changes so rapidly in 
all the species when they begin to turn white, that the 
various piebald specimens of a single species might 
well delight the ornithologist looking always for the 
new. 

It does not require the imagination of a Jules Verne 
to picture a game preserve occupying an Alaskan 
island, where the great Northern bears, both grizzly 
and polar, may be shot the same day with the small 
white grouse by the sportsman who has come from 
San Francisco on his yacht. 



XV 

THE PARTRIDGES 

PARTRIDGES are distinguished from the grouse by 
their size being smaller and by their naked legs ; 
they are larger than the European quails and distin- 
guished from the smaller birds in many ways. The 
foreign quails are migratory, fly in large flocks and go 
long distances, even crossing the Mediterranean. The 
American partridges are none of them migratory ; 
although they have been known to move short dis- 
tances, usually for food or water, they are found more 
often year after year in the same field, or at least on the 
same farm. The European quail are smaller than the 
partridges. There is some difference in the shape ot 
the wings, the size and strength of the bill and the 
number of feathers in and the length of the tails. The 
birds now listed in the check list among the par- 
tridges, the Bob-whites, have always been partridges 
in Virginia and the South, but in the North and West 
they are more often spoken of as quail. 

As I recently said in writing for a magazine, we live 
truly in an iconoclastic age when that idol of the 
gourmand " Quail on Toast " is shattered. 

The discussion as to name, howev^er, which begun 

long before " Field Sports " was written, has at last 

been settled. The Ornithological Union has made the 

list complete of all American birds. There are no 

1 06 



THE PARTRIDGES 107 

quails in the list. I have at another place suggested 
that we drop the term quail and " quail shooting." 

The partridge most familiar to sportsmen is the 
Bob-white. This is the bird most widely distributed, 
being found from New England to the Gulf and west- 
ward to the great plains, following civilization to the 
Northwest as far as it can stand the winters, and thriv- 
ing in California and many Western States where it has 
been introduced. 

Two partridges live in California and the Pacific 
Coast region, known as the California valley partridge 
and the mountain partridge. The former is smaller 
than Bob-white, the latter larger. The other par- 
tridges are all Southwestern birds, have limited 
ranges, and are found from the Rio Grande country in 
Texas to Lower California and Mexico. The scaled 
partridge is most abundant in Texas and New Mexico, 
the Gambels partridge in New Mexico and Arizona. 
The Massena is nowhere very abundant, but is found in 
Mexico and the adjacent States and Territories, east as 
far as San Antonio, Texas. The range of all the birds 
will be found stated with accuracy in the appendix. 

The Florida Bob-white and the Texas Bob-white 
are the same as the Northern bird, save as to slight 
difference of color. They are, too, a little smaller 
than the Northern birds. The differences, however, 
I regard as purely local or climatic. 

All the Western and Southwestern birds are noted 
for their beautiful plumage and piumes or crests. 
Bob-white, of course, is brown and gray. 

Bob-white is the best of all the partridges both in 
the field and on the table. 



io8 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

The variety makers have given us about as manj' 
Bob-whites as ptarmigans: Pueblo Bob- white, black 
breasted Bob-white, Godman's Bob-white, Coyolco's 
Bob-white, black-headed Bob-white, Salvin's Bob- 
white, Guatemala Bob-white, and Yucatan Bob- 
white. As their names indicate they have the same 
whistle, they are no doubt one and the same bird, the 
slight differences being climatic or geographical. 



XVI 

BOB-WHITE 

BOB-WHITE is a trim and handsome partridge, 
intermediate in size between the quails and par- 
tridges of the old world. He is conceded to be the 
best game bird in America. In my opinion he has not 
his equal in the world. He lies well to the dog, as I 
have said before, tests to the utmost the sportsman's 
skill in the open, and in cover seldom takes to the 
trees, is of convenient size for the game pocket, and is 
excellent for the table. He is certainly a better game 
bird than any of the grouse, since over dogs they are 
too easy marks, or fly too often to the trees. He is 
better than the imported pheasants or the partridges 
of Europe, since he lies better to the dogs ; and birds 
shot over dogs are superior as game to those shot from 
ambush — the ducks and shore-birds or waders. 

After a long controvei-sy the ornithologists are 
agreed that he is a partridge, not a quail, and have 
given him the name Bob-white; by which he was 
known to country folk long before. 

During the mating and nesting season he whistles 
the notes loud and clear which are supposed to resem- 
ble the words " ah Bob-white," and so he may be said 
to have whistled for himself a name. 

Early in the spring this partridge seeks a mate. The 

nest is built upon the ground, usually well concealed 

109 



no GALLINACEOUS BIRDS-PARTRIDGES 

in grass or weeds. There are from twelve to fifteen 
eggs, sometimes more, and while the hen is sitting on 
the nest, the male bird from near-by fence or stump 
whistles his familiar notes. The young are precocious 
in the extreme, and run and pick at food as soon as 
they leave the shell. They have wonderful ability to 
hide, and when danger comes, the hen sounds a warn- 
ing note, and the little birds disappear as if by magic. 
Often the old bird flutters away as if badly injured 
and unable to fly, and so attempts to lead her enemy 
away. 

Some say this partridge will rear two broods in a 
year. I believe they sometimes do. Certain it is that 
if the first young birds are destroyed, the hen will nest 
again. Such nests are often found late in the summer. 
A nest was discovered last year in New Jersey contain- 
ing fourteen eggs, which were hatched as late as the 
middle of October, and every sportsman has seen very 
small birds as late as the beginning of that month. 

The food of this partridge consists largely of seeds, 
berries, and grain. It is distinctly a bird of the farm, 
and thrives best in civilization. In the summer it be- 
comes tame, but as the fall approaches is quite wild 
again, and it seems impossible to domesticate it. Bob- 
white is said to be partially migratory. I had always 
doubted this until a few years ago when I found a 
number of coveys just before the season opened, which 
were gone before that date. They were quite near my 
house, and the birds had not been shot at, so I was con. 
vinced when good dogs failed to find them that they 
at least were gone. In dry seasons, or when the food 
gives out, partridges are compelled to move, since they 



BOB-WHITE III 

must have food and water. In Southern Illinois one 
very dry season I found no birds in the fields where 
they should have been, and later found many coveys 
about a ditch which had water standing in it. 

At night the covey takes a short flight to break the 
scent. The birds sit closely together in a concen- 
tric huddle, with their heads out, so that they have a 
lookout in every direction and it is difficult to ap- 
proach without alarming them. The chalk-like drop- 
pings in a circle indicate the presence of the birds in a 
field, and often show that they are in the habit of roost- 
ing in the same field every night. Work the dogs 
thoroughly when you see such signs. Be sure the 
covey is not far away. 

In winter the partridges again become quite tame, and 
often come into the barn-yards in search of food. It pays 
well to feed them at such time, especially if the winter 
is quite severe. At the clubs, food is liberally supplied, 
and often patches of grain are planted and left stand- 
ing especially for the birds. Farmers and sportsmen 
often feed the birds. 

When a heavy snow falls the partridges sit quite 
still until they are buried in it, and then if a crust is 
frozen on the top they all are imprisoned and surely 
perish. A few corn-shocks left standing and a few 
brush-heaps, where the food is scattered, will save the 
lives of many birds. 

In some severe winters partridges are almost exter- 
minated. It is then necessary to pass a law prohibit- 
ing shooting for a term of years, when the birds will 
again be found abundant. 

In Northwestern Ohio some years ago after such a 



112 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

storm, it turned very cold and a thick crust of ice was 
formed on top of the deep snow. Many coveys on one 
of my favorite shooting grounds were imprisoned and 
the birds perished. Where I had shot scores of birds 
in a day one year, the next autumn I found but one 
small covey of eight or ten birds in two days of indus- 
trious tramping behind good dogs. The Legislature 
was appealed to, and a law providing a close season of 
several years' duration was passed, and to the credit 
of the sportsmen of the State it was obeyed, with the 
result that the bii"ds were again abundant at the end 
of the close time and have been fairl)^ abundant in 
Ohio ever since. 

After a severe snow, but a few years ago, which pre- 
vented the partridges from obtaining food, the Lou- 
donville Gun Club (in Ohio) requested the farmers to 
clear a protected spot on their farms and agreed to 
scatter the necessary food on such places, whether 
they were permitted to hunt on the premises or not, 
and Mr. Pond, the editor of the Sports Dian's Rcviezv, 
well says, the example is one which should be fol- 
lowed by all gun clubs in localities where such con- 
ditions may exist. 

The partridge is distributed from New England and 
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and west to South Da- 
kota, Kansas, and Texas. As civilization has moved 
westward this bird has gone with it, and is now 
found over a larger area in the Western States than 
formerly. It has been introduced into California and 
the Salt Lake valley, and should do well in these 
places. These partridges are most abundant to-day in 
the Southern States from North Carolina and Georgia 



BOB-WHITE 113 

to Texas, and in Southern Illinois, parts of Missouri, and 
Kansas. They were extremely abundant in Oklahoma, 
but recent reports state that there has been entirely 
too much shooting, with the usual result. 

The report of Governor Brodie to the Secretary 
of the Interior contains a statement that the efforts 
to introduce Bob-whites and imported pheasants into 
Arizona have so far not been very successful. 

This partridge is by far the best bird for the upland 
game preserve. As a rule it does not wander far, and 
when food is supplied it will survive the severest win- 
ter. It is not difficult to stock a preserve, provided 
care is used in putting down the birds. Some clubs, 
when the shooting is excessive, restock the grounds 
every year. The birds should be put out early in the 
spring and food scattered about the place of their re- 
lease. 

I once purchased a crate of ten birds which I saw in 
the Cincinnati market and gave them to a friend who 
had a large country place. Early in the year the crate 
was placed not far from the house, and after the birds 
had become accustomed to their surroundings we re- 
moved one of the slats at evening and in the morning 
the birds came out and were soon feeding in the grass. 
Before long they separated, and one pair nested on 
the lawn, quite near the house, another in the garden 
and the others not far away. The natural enemies of 
the partridge, the foxes, hawks and domestic cats and 
dogs, should be kept down, of course, and if too many 
birds are not shot in the autumn they Avill increase 
from year to year. 

The modern farm implements, the mowers and reap- 



114 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

ers, do much damage to the nesting quail, and when it 
is desired to preserve them it is best to leave a stump 
or two in the fields surrounded by long grass and 
briers, and these will save many birds. The game- 
keeper on a preserve should, of course, know where 
each bird has its nest, and if in a field of grass or grain, 
the farm implements may be driven around it, not too 
close to disturb the mother bird. It is not difficult to 
find the nests, since the cock-bird whistles daily from 
a place quite near it. Partridges are especially fond of 
buckwheat, and a small area of this grain planted and 
left standing for their use will attract them to the 
place. An old tree-top or open brush-heap, left in a 
field, will afford shelter in the winter and a nesting- 
place besides. But a few years ago no attention was 
paid to these matters. They are not mentioned in our 
books, but with the growth of game-preserving many 
individuals and clubs are giving their attention to the 
proper propagation of the game and its protection in 
the winter. Hedges and the old rail fences are far 
better for the partridges than the modern wire fences, 
since they afford cover and protection on every side of 
the field. Tall grasses, weeds, and briers allowed to 
grow about the fences furnish not only protection to 
the birds from their enemies the hawks, but afford 
them food, both seeds and berries. An apple-tree here 
and there, when the apples are allowed to remain upon 
the ground, proves an additional attraction to the 
birds, and there are many places now where the birds 
are worth more than the fruit. 

Many partridges were formerly taken by traps and 
nets. 1 have destroyed many of these when shooting 



BOB-WHITE 115 

in the fields. So long as the open sale of birds was 
legal the temptation to so take them remained. The 
use of traps and the sale of game is now prohibited in 
most of the States, and many farmers now rent the 
shooting on the farms, and are prepared to aid the 
execution of the law. 

Partridges, as sportsmen know, prefer the open 
fields — stubble and corn in the order named. They 
are seldom seen far within large woods. When 
alarmed they fly at once to the woods or thickets, 
there to remain until the danger passes. Small woods 
and thickets with much underbrush and briers are 
better than large woodland tracts and furnish all the 
cover which the birds require. Small streams and 
ponds and springs furnish water for the birds and 
seem necessary for their existence. The birds are 
partial to a railway passing through a farm and there 
find gravel, sand, and often grain dropped from a 
passing freight-train. 

The open season for partridge shooting a few years 
ago was much too long. Beginning as early as Octo- 
ber, or even September in some States, it lasted until 
March or April, long after the birds had sought 
their mates. Coveys are more easily seen and potted 
on the snow. A shorter season is now provided in 
many States. A uniform law providing for an open 
season beginning November ist and ending with the 
year would be exactly right. 

The gun for partridge shooting should be a light 12 
or 16 gauge, the barrels open or but slightly choked, 
since the shots are at short range. A shooting-coat with 
many pockets, leggins, and stout shoes are best. Set- 



116 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

ters and i)oinlers of field-trial parentage, but trained 
to hunt before the gun and not to range too far, will 
furnish better shooting than the wider ranging dogs. 
They should go fast, but not too far, and should cover 
all the ground. 

A few years ago there was no limit to the bag. 
The birds were killed by hundreds in a day. The 
legal limit now is often small. In one State (Ver- 
mont) it is but five birds of any kind in a day. A 
limit of two or three dozen birds a day would, in my 
opinion, be just right. On many days this bag cannot 
be made, and when a good da}' comes, I see no reason 
why the limit should not be at least two dozen birds. 
On preserves the limit is often fixed by a club rule, 
which should, of course, limit the killing sutticiently 
to save enough birds to restock the grounds. On the 
English stubbles and Scottish moors, the bags are 
often large, but care is taken that enough remain. 

In the morning the partridges start out afoot to feed 
upon the fields. When the day is fine they move early, 
and the sportsman may also make an earl}'^ start and 
take the field as soon as the sun is up. On cold and 
storm V davs the birds will not move so early, and 
when it rains and the wind is high they may not move 
at all. As a general rule, however, I would advise an 
earlier start than that proposed by Forester. Cast off 
the dogs, a pair, not more, in the stubble or field of 
corn, and see that they look well to the sides of the 
field before leaving it. Experienced dogs will seek the 
likely places first, the little knolls or depressions where 
the cover seems to be the best. Give good dogs few 
orders, or better none at all, and the}' will soon find 



BOB-WHITE 117 

and point the covey. Approaching without haste, 
walk in and flush the birds. By no means shoot them 
on the ground, and refuse at once to shoot with one 
who would suggest it. As the birds arise with noisy 
wings, select one far out on your own side and having 
killed or missed it, shoot again. Do not, like Mr, Tup- 
man, shoot vaguely at the flock with both eyes shut. 
Such shooting may possibly wound some birds but 
more likely will hit them not at all. Mark well the 
birds which cross the woodland fence. They will not 
go far be3'ond it. And here the sportsmen differ in 
their methods of pursuit. Some say do not follow the 
scattered birds at once but seek another covey first. 
This is the rule of action laid down by Forester, Lewis, 
and some other writers. Many sportsmen of much ex- 
perience, however, will lose no time in getting to the 
woods. 

It is certain that often the birds will not be found 
even by the best of dogs, and many say they have the 
power of withholding their scent. I have often marked 
the birds to a small thicket, or even patch of briers, 
where they certainly went down, once between me 
and a horse within the field, and with the best of dogs 
I could make but one of them take wing. On one 
occasion I even saw a partridge on the ground and 
two dogs as good as any passed each side of it, and 
but a few feet away. They even failed to take notice 
of it when I again brought them where it was, and 
finally I moved it with my foot, when up it went. 
There were at least fifteen birds in the covey, and all 
were on the ground, but not one more was moved, 
although the dogs were worked closely back and 



ii8 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

forth. An hour later I returned to the same place 
and the birds were pointed one by one. Whether the 
birds actually have the power of withholding the 
scent we do not know. They certainly arc often safe 
from the noses of good dogs. The best opinion seems 
to me to be that the scent is dissipated by the birds' 
rapid passage through the air, and when they first 
alight they press their wings closely to their bodies, 
and do not give forth any scent imtil they move again. 

Since the birds do not always act in this manner, 
however, I believe it is well to follow them at once, 
especially if the beat will take one far from the place. It 
may be the birds have moved or for other reason give 
forth some scent, and the dogs will at once point them 
one by one. The matter is, however, easily ascer- 
tained. If the birds are not found at once, it is well 
to leave them and return later. 

Partridges fly rapidly. They seem to be under full 
headway as they leave the ground. It is absolutely 
necessary, as I have repeatedly said, to shoot well over 
rising birds, and well ahead of those which go off to 
right or left. An old English game-keeper, quoted by 
Stuart- Wortley, well said, " You will surely miss them 
if you shoot where they are." It is important that the 
shot should be so placed that the bird will fly into the 
centre of the charge. The effective killing-area is in 
the centre of the pattern. Straggling shot at the 
sides will often wound or miss the bird, and the same 
writer says " wounded birds will distress a first-rate 
man, so that he would almost as soon have missed 
them altogether." By shooting at the centre of the 
flock several birds may possibly be killed at one shot, 



BOB-WHITE 119 

but more are often wounded. Remember, therefore, 
to shoot at a single bird, and aim well forward and 
high. Of course, if the covey be flushed on a hill-side, 
and the birds fly down, the aim should be well under 
instead of over them. Beginners shoot under and 
behind the birds. Mayer says : "The velocity of an 
ounce of No. 8 shot, driven with three drams of pow. 
der, is near to nine hundred feet per second. In that 
second a Bob-white, if under full headway, will go 
eighty-eight feet, if we estimate the velocity of his 
flight so low only as a mile a minute. If he is flying 
directly across your line of sight and thirty yards off, 
the shot will take one-tenth of a second to reach that 
distance, and in one-tenth of a second the bird has 
gone over eight and eight-tenths feet." It is a most 
difficult point for a beginner, and he continues to miss 
until he can bring himself to shoot well ahead of cross- 
flying shots and well over rising birds. In shooting at 
ducks when several are flying in a line, one behind the 
other, he will be surprised to see a bird far behind the 
one he shot at fall dead. The reader will find exam- 
ples of this in the chapters on the water-fowl. Par- 
tridges require hard hitting to bring them down. It 
is therefore all-important that the aim be true. As for 
the shot, No. 9 will do early in the season, but a little 
later No. 8 will be found more effective. 

Two sportsmen are the proper number in partridge 
shooting. If there are more in the party they should 
take separate beats. I shot many seasons with a friend 
in Northern Ohio and we were often joined by local 
sportsmen who knew the grounds, but we always 
divided up, coming together at the noon hour to dis- 



120 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

cuss the fortunes of the da}^ and again at night, at a 
point where our wagon picked us up. The dogs should 
be two in number and owned and handled by one per- 
son without the slightest interference. When both 
sportsmen own dogs, they can be handled alternately 
on different days to advantage. Dogs that are accus- 
tomed to hunting together will do the best work. 
Strangers are often jealous of each other and work 
badly. 

Partridges are often found in the vicinity of old 
deserted cabins and houses. They hnd much food in 
the garden or orchard, and such places are almost cer- 
tain to harbor a covey. I always go out of my way to 
run the dogs over such places, and many sportsmen of 
my acquaintance do the same. Mr. King, an accom- 
plished sportsman of Pittsburgh, recently told me that 
he once flushed a covey which flew directly toward a 
house some distance away, when he lost sight of them, 
flying low. He approached the house, thinking that 
he would ask the owner's permission to shoot, but dis- 
covered that it was abandoned, both doors and windows 
were out. Knowing well the fondness of partridges 
for such places, he proceeded to run his dogs over the 
ground on all sides of the house, but failed to move a 
bird and gave them up. Just before going away, how- 
ever, he decided, out of an idle curiosit}^, to enter the 
house, when with a loud whirring the whole covey 
went out through the windows, and as my friend ex- 
pressed it, he was too astonished to fire a shot. 

I have known the wood-grouse also to enter aban- 
doned houses, and the reader will do well, especially 
when hunting partridges, not to pass one by. 



BOB-WHITE 121 

In a bulletin issued (1885) by the Agricultural Depart- 
ment of the national Government, I find the following: 
"The question is often asked whether the habit quail 
(partridges) have of lying to the dog is natural or 
acquired. To get a satisfactory answer one has only 
to hunt in different parts of Indian Territory. In the 
region west of Fort Sill the quail never think of stop- 
ping when they see a dog, but run as fast as possible, 
and upon his near approach they flush immediately, 
just as one may suppose they do on the approach of a 
coyote. In the eastern part of the Territory, near the 
railroad, the quail lie quite well to a dog and, as they 
are exceedingly abundant, excellent sport may be had 
from November until March." 

This brings to mind an opinion expressed by that 
distinguished ornithologist. Dr. Coues: "I am inclined 
to think indeed," he says, "that the lying of quail 
[partridges],* an essential feature for the chase in its 
perfection, is almost as much a result of education as 
the 'pointing' that the intelligent brute who helps us 
kill them has learned. In a primitive and strictly nat- 
ural condition, quail as a general rule rather use their 
legs to escape pursuit, than squat and attempt to hide. 
That the reverse is the case with the Virginia quail 
[the Bob- white], I am perfectly aware, but this proves 
nothing to the contrary, and I am inclined to think its 
crouching until almost trodden upon, to be an acquired 
trick. This would surel}'^ be a poor way to escape 
from any of its natural enemies — any carnivorous bird 

* This was written before the Ornithological Union, of which Dr. Coues 
was a member, decided that the birds are partridges. The brackets are 
mine. 



122 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

or mammal; yet they found it to succeed so well against 
their chief persecutor, that he has had to call in the aid 
of a sharper sighted, sharper-nosed brute than himself, 
else he might stumble over stubble-fields all day with- 
out seeing a bird except by accident. I presume that 
Virginia quail in the days of Captain Smith and Poca- 
hontas were very much in the social status of the 
Orcgonians to-day ; and those certainly trust to their 
legs and wings rather than to the artifice of thrusting 
their heads in a tussock of grass and then fancying 
they are safe." ..." It will probably require sev- 
eral generations in training before the blue or scaled 
partridge of the Southwest, which now trusts to its 
legs rather than its wings, and glides along with mar- 
vellous celerity, can be taught to lie well to the dog." 

A mixed bag is attractive, and an opportunity is here 
presented to some of the Southern clubs and to gentle- 
men owning private preserves, to give not only the 
blue partridge, but the California and Gambel's par- 
tridge also, some lessons in lying to the dogs. Having 
seen those birds go, afoot, I am prepared to say the 
lessons, if successful, would make them better birds. 

As I have said, efforts to introduce Bob-white into 
Arizona have not been so far very successful. A few 
hogs introduced at the same time with Bob-white 
would aid the birds, in my opinion, in that land of 
snakes and reptiles. The habit of " lying close " 
would certainly not work well with snakes. 

Partridges when disturbed, as I have observed, at 
once fly to the nearest cover, and there, though well 
scattered, the dogs point them one by one. The 
shooting at scattered birds in the woods is in my opin- 



BOB-WHITE 123 

ion, the best sport offered to the sportsmen of America. 
Here the swiftly flying marks test his skill to the ut- 
most. Here his dogs appear to the best advantage. 
Often the shooting is quite rapid, many double shots 
are offered and the background is the most beautiful in 
the world. The brilliant colors of the trees, the fallen 
logs, moss and lichen covered, the carpet of bright 
leaves, the grass and the vines, are blended with many 
tones of gray and the blue mist of the Indian summer. 
" Whirr ! Whirr ! " go the birds, " Bang ! Bang ! " go 
the guns. Here, to my mind, is the acme of sports 
afield. 

The average number of birds killed from each 
covey is small. Alfred Mayer, quoting Mr. H. H. B. 
Davis, says the average is a little over three birds 
brought to bag from each covey flushed. Mr. Starr, 
after taking the opinion of nearly three hundred 
sportsmen who replied to his inquiry, places the aver- 
age at a smaller number. An average shot in a good 
average day (finding nine coveys), he says, will bag 
twenty birds, killing 53 per cent, of his shots. The 
reader who will keep a record of the number of coveys 
which he shoots at in a season and the number of 
birds brought to bag will find these figures not far 
wrong. 

On stormy days and on days when the snow covers 
the fields so as to render the partridges conspicuous 
they will always be found in the woods. The sports- 
man who is familiar with his ground and knows the 
fields where the partridges usually are, will seek them 
in the adjoining cover and not verv far from the 
fence. I have often put up the covey from an angle 



124 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

in a rail fence, especially when it was overgrown with 
briers. 

There are a number of varieties (the sub-species of 
the ornithologists) given in the books, and many at- 
tempts are made to extend the list. We now have no 
less than three species : the Bob-white, the Grayson's 
Bob-white, and the masked Bob-white. Bob-white 
has two sub-species, the Florida Bob-white and the 
Texas Bob-white. There are nine additional Bob- 
whites named and reported in the Auk, for April, 
1898, and no doubt, as the politicians say, there are 
several counties yet to hear from. The sportsmen 
have little interest in what I have been pleased to call 
fractional species of birds, and I think they agree with 
what I said in " The True Game Birds " : " Until the 
variety-makers find a bird which does not whistle 
' Bob-white,' which has not the same pattern or mark- 
ings, which does in fact differ in some material habit 
of nesting, rearing its young, feeding, flying, lying 
well to the dog, or equally well on the plate, the 
sportsman may well consider the species and sub- 
species of Bob-white as one and the same." 

White partridges, albinos, have been shot in many 
places, and mounted specimens may be seen in the 
museums. They are uncommon. I have never seen 
one alive. 



XVII 

THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES 

THESE are two remarkably beautiful birds, gener- 
ally known as the California partridges. Both 
of these birds are of a slate-blue color, handsomely 
marked. Both are found on the Pacific Coast. The 
mountain partridge is the larger bird, and is somewhat 
larger than Bob-white. The California partridge, more 
often called the valley-quail or partridge, is smaller 
than the Bob-white. These birds have handsome 
black plumes on their heads, and are often designated 
as plumed partridges. There are two sub-species of 
the mountain partridge and one of the valley bird, but 
these are of the same general color and markings, and 
have the same habits, and the differences are so slight 
that they do not appear when the birds are pictured 
in black and white. 

The inhabitants of California, outside of technical 
ornithologists, only know two birds — the mountain and 
the valley partridge. These birds trust to their legs 
more than their wings, and are remarkably expert 
runners. On that account they are not very desirable 
game birds. The flesh of both is excellent, the}^ fly 
swiftly with the whirring noise common to all gallina- 
ceous birds, are excellent marks, and the California 
sportsmen are much given to their pursuit. Dogs are 

125 



126 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

used, and sometimes the birds lie fairly well to them, 
but such conduct is exceptional. 

Many of the birds were formerly taken in traps, and 
some years ago, when they were extremely abundant, 
they were shot by market gunners on the ground and 
sold in large numbers in the San Francisco markets. 
The Indians use the plumes plucked from the head to 
decorate their baskets. 

The smaller birds are always the most abundant. 
The flocks are often large. The larger birds are never 
seen in large flocks, and are found, as their name would 
indicate, in the hills and mountains. 

The crest or plume of the mountain partridge con- 
sists of two straight black feathers much longer than 
the bill and head. The crest of the valley-bird is also 
black, but short and narrow at the base, widening out 
and curving forward at the tip. 

THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE 

The mountain partridge and the sub-species known 
as the plumed partridge and the San Pedro partridge, 
are, to sportsmen, the same. The range of these birds 
is from Southern California north to Washington ; 
the mountain partridge being assigned by the ornithol- 
ogists to the region north of San Francisco Bay, 
the plumed and San Pedro partridges to regions 
south of the bay. The mountain partridge has been 
introduced on Vancouver Island. I first observed 
these birds many years ago when they were quite 
tame. They were in small flocks and took to their 
legs, or flew away on whirring wings. 



THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES 127 

I scattered a flock one day, when a cock-bird lit 
upon a rock quite near, and standing where the sun- 
light fell upon his shining feathers, I was able to ob- 
serve him closely for some time. He had the same 
trim outline and jaunty pose as our own Bob-white, 
but his gay plumage and long, black plume caused me 
to regard him as more beautiful. I had no desire to 
shoot him and presently he flew away. Large game 
of all sorts was abundant. I had been shooting for 
some weeks in the Rocky Mountains and on the 
plains. Even the large blue- or dusky-grouse was not 
inviting as a mark. 

The birds are much wilder now than formerly and 
far less abundant. There are few places where a large 
bag could be secured, but their pursuit leads the 
sportsman into wild and picturesque localities, into 
forests of gigantic trees, on mountain sides, beside the 
streams of pure water, and beautiful cascades. While 
rambling on a pony in the woods one is inclined to 
forgive the ungamelike habit of the birds, which, as 
Bendire has said, is very trying to the human and 
perfectly exasperating and bewildering to the dog. 

THE VALLEY PARTRIDGE 

Upon a journey to far-famed Yosemite I first saw 
the smaller California partridges, known throughout 
the State as the valley partridges. 

They were extremely abundant along the road and 
in large flocks ran before the horses upon a near ap- 
proach, and sometimes took wing and whirred away 
into the chapparal. The flight of these birds is swift 



128 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

when once they are on the wing and when I first 
observed them they were so tame as easily to be ap- 
proached within short range, but the difficulty was to 
make them take wing, for no one cares to pot a covey 
on the ground. Their speed afoot was most remark- 
able. They were often in sight in the open brush or 
on the roads racing on ahead. I am quite sure we 
saw as many as fifty flocks in a day without leaving 
the wagon, and it may be many more. When on the 
wing they flew but a short distance, and as I have said 
in writing of these birds, their feet began to go before 
they fairly touched the ground, and as they sailed 
along the surface it was difficult to tell just when the 
flying ceased and the running began. Their speed 
afoot seemed quite equal to their speed in air. 

Sportsmen who have had much experience with 
these birds informed me that by persistently chasing 
them about until they were well scattered they some- 
times could be made to lie to the dog, but as a game 
bird they are in no way to be compared to the par- 
tridges of the Eastern States. 

The California valley partridge was formerly dis- 
tributed throughout the coast and interior valleys and 
on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
They have been introduced into Oregon, Washington, 
and British Columbia. 

In the southern parts of California the birds are 
often found on grounds overgrown with cactus, which 
presents another serious difficulty for the dogs. A 
friend who has shot much on such ground informs me 
that on one plantation the owner had paths cut through 
a large field of cactus, which was a harbor of refuge 



THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES 129 

for the birds, and having driven a large number of 
flocks to this place they went in with the dogs, work- 
ing along the paths, and often made large bags, on one 
occasion no fewer than ten dozen birds. I have heard 
of much larger bags, numbering hundreds of birds, 
being made in the earlier days when the game was 
extremely abundant, but no doubt much of the shoot- 
ing was at birds on the ground, when a dozen or more 
might be killed at a single shot. 

Mr. T. S. Van Dyke, writing recently for the West- 
ern Field, the Pacific Coast magazine, says he has writ- 
ten so often of this bird that he feels positively ashamed 
every time he looks at one. He said that when he 
first came to California, in 1875, quail in flocks now 
quite incredible soared out of almost every cactus 
patch, shook almost every hillside with the thunder of 
a thousand wings, trotted in strings along the roads, 
wheeled in platoons over the grassy slopes and burst 
from around almost every spring in a thousand curling 
lines. The same writer says that the partridges have 
already deserted many of the valleys and are now 
more often found in the hills, ready always to run 
and fly from one hillside to another, and "their leg 
power, always respectable enough to relieve you from 
any question of propriety about shooting at one run- 
ning, they have cultivated to such a fine point that 
sometimes they never rise at all, and you may chase 
and chase and chase them and get never a rise." 
Writing at another time Mr. Van Dyke advises the 
shooter not to attempt to bag anything at first, but to 
spend all the time in breaking and scattering the 
coveys, racing and chasing after them and firing broad- 



I30 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

sides over their heads and in front of them, until they 
are in " a state of such alarm that they will trust to 
hiding." He then advises that the dog (which I pre- 
sume has been used in coursing the birds) be tied to a 
shady bush and that the coat be laid aside, that the 
sportsman may travel fast after the scattered birds. 

The dogs which have had experience with these 
birds are of course better than dogs which have been 
trained on the Eastern partridge, Bob-white. There 
are now many fine dogs owned in California, and these, 
no doubt, have learned to point the running birds at 
long range, and do good work with them whenever 
they consent to lie to them. Fast, wide-ranging dogs, 
such as are good on snipe on the vast Western marshes, 
dogs with excellent noses, that can point the game 
when it is a long way off and keep after it, always care- 
ful not to flush the birds, are no doubt the dogs the 
sportsmen of California must rely on. 

The birds to-day are described as much more wild 
than those of former years, and do not show progress 
toward that happy day when their education will be 
complete, and they will cease to trust to their legs and 
lie well to the dogs. I fear the opinion of the famous 
ornithologist, the late Dr. Coues, which I have given 
in the chapter on Bob-whites, may not prove to be 
correct. 

The valley partridge nests upon the ground. There 
are usually twelve or fifteen eggs. The food consists 
of seeds, insects, and leaves; the birds are very fond of 
grapes. 

Although known everywhere as the valley-partridge, 
these birds are often found at an elevation of several 



THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES 131 

thousand feet. They are more abundant near sea 
levels, however, than higher. 

Although the coveys seldom contain more than twelve 
or fifteen birds, large flocks are often seen in the fall 
and winter, Avhich would indicate that these partridges 
pack like the grouse of the open country. 



XVIII 

THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 

THE three remaining partridges, known as the 
Gambel's partridge, the scaled-partridge, and 
the Massena partridge, may be termed the Southwest- 
ern partridges, since they are found in a limited area 
of which New Mexico or Western Texas may be said 
to be the centre. 

The scaled-partridge, with its sub-species, the chest- 
nut-bellied scaled-partridge, inhabits the table-lands of 
Mexico, and is found from the valley of Mexico north 
to Central and Western Texas, Santa F6, New Mexico, 
and Southern Arizona. Gambel's partridge, which 
enjoys the proud distinction of having no sub-species, 
is distributed throughout Western Texas, New Mex- 
ico, Arizona, Southern Utah, Southern Nevada, South- 
ern California, in the Colorado valley, and southward 
into Northwestern Mexico. The Massena partridge 
is found from the City of Mexico north to West- 
ern Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Gambel's par- 
tridge and the scaled-partridge have much the same 
habits as the valley-partridge of California, and run 
equally as well ; much that has been said about that 
bird applies to these. 

There is much diversity of opinion as to the per- 
formance of the Massena before dogs. It is the least 

abundant of the Southwestern partridges. 

132 



THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 133 

gambel's partridge 

Gambel's partridge is the same size and has much 
the same appearance as the valley-bird of California. 
It has a similar plume of black feathers on the head, 
but the golden-brown area on the belly of the Cali- 
fornia bird is replaced by black in Gambel's partridge. 
The Gambel's partridge is the handsomer bird. 

Dr. Coues referred to the valleys of the Gila and 
Colorado rivers as centres of abundance, and says, 
" About Fort Yuma there were more quails to the 
square mile than I ever saw elsewhere, and indeed I 
could scarcely see how many more could well have 
been accommodated with food and hiding places." 

The young of this partridge are hatched in May, 
and like those of other partridges they are extremely 
precocious. The cock-bird utters a loud whistle dur- 
ing the mating season entirely different, however, from 
the notes of Bob-white. 

The coveys usually contain a dozen or more birds. 
Coues says he never saw a covey containing more than 
twenty birds, but larger coveys of fifty or more young 
birds are reported, which may be accounted for either 
by the fact that the birds are polygamous or possibly 
several coveys have associated. These birds pack, like 
the California partridge, into very large flocks late in 
the year. 

Gambel's partridge flies with the usual loud whirring 
noise, and when it takes wing within range presents 
a similar mark to that of Bob-white; a 12-gauge is 
the proper gun ; No. 8 the proper shot. Elliot says 
this bird possesses the same disagreeable traits as the 



134 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS-PARTRIDGES 

California partridge, when he is regarded as a game 
bird. 

A few years ago it was customary to trap these 
birds, and thousands of dozens were sent to the San 
Francisco markets. At one station the express agent 
shipped no fewer than three thousand dozens in a 
season (1889-90). The price was as low as 60 cents a 
dozen. It is no wonder that the birds rapidly de- 
creased in numbers and were threatened with exter- 
mination. Arizona now has good game laws, and 
these are executed. Trapping is prohibited at all 
times, as it should be, and it is a misdemeanor to ship 
these birds from the Territory. 

The Indians snare many of these partridges, and use 
the plumes as ornaments, but they do not kill the 
birds, but release most of them, having deprived them 
of the plumes. 

Dr. Coues tells of killing with mustard-seed shot a 
wolf which he found hunting a covey of these birds. 
I once made a similar shot at a fox which was pointed 
by my dog at the same time with a covey of par- 
tridges (the Bob-whites). 

THE SCALED-PARTRIDGE 

I once had a covey of these beautiful birds, often 
called the blue-quails or partridges, in captivity, and 
had an opportunity of observing their speed, as they 
ran about the sides of the room, close to the wall. I 
was prepared to bet on my birds in a race against all 
comers. I doubt if any of the Californians or Mr. 
Gambel's birds could beat them. Their leg power was 



THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 135 

tremendous. The scaled-partridge is of a slate-blue 
color, but it has peculiar markings, which resemble 
imbricated scales, and which, of course, suggested the 
name. It is a handsome bird, and has a crest which it 
can elevate. The crest-feathers are tipped with white, 
and the bird is sometimes called white-crested quail. 

The scaled-partridge is most abundant in the valley 
of the Rio Grande. It flies like the other partridges, 
and presents similar shots when one can get within 
range of it. The ground where it lives is covered for 
the most part with many varieties of cactus, and every 
living thing in the vegetation line seems to have a 
thousand spines attached to it, which would render 
the dog useless if the birds were willing, which they 
are not, to allow him to approach. 

They are often seen in the roads, and by driving or 
riding along with a horse that will stand fire some 
shots may be obtained; but the sportsman who goes in 
to retrieve his birds may spend the rest of the day 
picking spines out of his legs, so that the sport is for 
several reasons not very attractive. The precise range 
and description of the bird are fully given in the notes. 

THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE 

The Massena partridge is one of the few game birds 
that I have never had the pleasure of meeting, but I 
have always taken an especial interest in it, not only 
on account of its peculiar bizarre appearance, but for 
the reason that my information led me to believe that 
this partridge was more like Bob-white than any of 
the other American partridges — in other words, that 



136 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 

it stood for all that was good in a game bird. The 
mountain and valley partridges of California, the 
Gambel's and the scaled-partridge of the Southwest 
are, as we have seen, great runners and most exaspera- 
ting to well-trained dogs. Unless the Massena proves 
to be of some account we have only one real good 
partridge in America. 

Our early information as to the Massena came from 
officers of the army who were stationed in the South- 
west. Colonel McCall first reported it in 185 1 as fair- 
ly abundant from the San Pedro to the Rio Pecos, and 
says it was always quite confiding, and he was inclined 
to think that with little difficulty it might be domesti- 
cated. 

Kennerly says he has often known Mexican soldiers 
to kill them with their lances. Elliot says it is often 
called a fool quail, on account of its confiding dispo- 
sition. 

All the writers I am familiar with, excepting a re- 
cent correspondent of the Sportsman s Review, describe 
the bird as very tame and confiding and not inclined 
to run like the other Western birds, but their opin- 
ions are at variance with this recent correspondent. I 
do not know his name and the editor of the Review 
writes that he cannot now give it to me. 

The Massena is about the same in size as the other 
partridges, but it is easily distinguished by the white 
spots which cause it to resemble a small guinea-hen. 

It is nowhere found in any numbers, and a natural- 
ist of my acquaintance, who visited its habitat in the 
hopes of securing specimens, returned without a bird. 



BOOK II 
WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 



XIX 

THE WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 

THE wild-fowl of the sportsmen are the swimmers 
ianatidce) of the ornithologists. There are two 
hundred species of these birds in the world and about 
sixty of them in North America. The swimmers are 
second only in importance to the gallinaceous birds. It 
is possible that a majority of sportsmen would reverse 
the order and place the swimmers first. Elliot is of 
the opinion that the duck-shooters are in the majority. 
The order of swimmers contains a greater number of 
large, fine game birds than the order gallinas, and many 
of these are noted for their handsome plumage ; one 
of them, the wood-duck, is the handsomest water-fowl 
in the world. The pursuit of these birds takes the 
sportsman to the bays, lagoons, and marshes about the 
coast, and to the lakes, ponds, and rivers of the interior. 
The pleasures derived from sailing and boating are 
added to the shooting, and the vast marshes over- 
grown with tall reeds and rushes and many wild 
grasses and aquatic plants are charmingly pictu- 
resque. Much skill is required in approaching and 
shooting the game. 

There are five families of swimmers — the swans, the 
geese, the sea-ducks, the river-ducks, and the mergan- 
sers. To these Elliot adds two sub-families, one to 
include the wood-duck and the other the spine-tailed 
ducks; but from the sportsman's point of view the 

139 



I40 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 

classification I have given, which is that of the 
American Ornithological Union, is sufficient. The 
wood-duck is a shoal-water duck, and is often found 
feeding with other dabblers, such as mallards and 
spoonbills. The sportsman does not care to follow 
ornithological refinements too far. The sea-ducks, or 
divers, escape more often when wounded, by diving, 
but the shoal-water dabblers are extremely expert at 
hiding in the reeds. 

The wild-fowl are migrants. They go north to build 
their nests and rear their young. Many of them go 
within the arctic circle. In the West many ducks and 
some geese nest within the northern boundary of the 
United States. But in a few years at most not one 
will remain to nest, and it will not be long before the 
Western lakes, which are now crowded every spring 
and fall with fowls, will be as desolate as the New 
England ponds. 

With their young, the wild-fowl return to the United 
States early in the autumn, and as the waters freeze in 
the Northern States they proceed southward. With 
the first signs of spring, often as early as February, 
they move north again, and so soon as the ice disap- 
pears they may be looked for on the bays and marshes. 
The hardier varieties, such as the canvas-backs, red 
heads, and the scaups, or black-heads, are the last to 
go south in the autumn. Some of them winter in the 
vicinity of New York, many more at Chesapeake and 
Currituck Sound. 

The swans are large birds, and now in many places 
extremely rare. They are probably more abundant 
on the Pacific Coast than elsewhere. 



WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 141 

The geese and brant also come each year in greatly 
diminished numbers. The brant are often called 
brant- or brent-geese, since they resemble the com- 
mon wild-goose, being smaller. The sea-ducks and 
the river-ducks are not easily approached, but most 
of them come to decoys, and their numbers are an- 
nually reduced at an alarming rate. The sea-ducks 
have larger feet, and the legs are further back than those 
of the river-ducks. They are therefore better swim- 
mers and divers, but their progression on land is more 
difficult. The terms sea-ducks and river-ducks used by 
the ornithologists are somewhat misleading, since the 
sea-ducks, such as canvas-backs, red-heads, and scaups, 
and most of the others, are found often on the rivers 
and lakes far from the sea, and thousands annually 
travel the great valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi 
rivers upon their spring and fall migration. The 
terms deep-water ducks, or divers, and shoal-water 
ducks or dabblers, are more accurate, since the can- 
vas-backs and other sea-ducks prefer the deep-water, 
and dive long distances under it in their search for 
food, while the shoal-water ducks feed by dabbling or 
tipping like the common barn-yard ducks. 

The number of wild-fowl which came formerly to the 
bays and lagoons along the Eastern coasts, was almost 
beyond belief. Flocks were often in sight following 
each other in quick succession for days at a time. 
There were acres of ducks on the water. In the far 
West I have seen such sights, and can readily believe 
the accounts of the former abundance of these birds 
about the coast. 

Persistent shooting, especially for the markets, has 



142 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 

much reduced the ranks of those which travel over the 
Eastern course, but the birds still move from Dakota 
to the Gulf in immense numbers. There is a record 
of three guns killing one thousand three hundred and 
seventy-two ducks in forty-eight hours at Lake Bisti- 
neau, Louisania (March 9, 1902), and only the birds 
actually bagged were counted. 

I know of a bag of over one hundred ducks made one 
morning by a gun in Ohio, in the fall of the preceding 
year. These records indicate that the ducks still come 
in goodly numbers. 

Such killings as those referred to by men who shoot 
for sport, added to the tremendous execution of the 
market gunners, will, if continued, soon make the duck 
a rare bird on our Western waters. I recently saw a 
gun at one of the Ohio clubs, which, in the hands of a 
market gunner of Sandusky, killed one hundred and 
eighteen ducks at one shot. Not satisfied with shoot- 
ing from the shore, the market gunners and sportsmen 
stationed themselves in floating batteries on the feed- 
ing grounds, thus preventing the ducks from feeding. 
A few years ago, before there were game laws or pre- 
serves, the booming of the guns in the marshes 
sounded like the skirmish fire of an army. The shoot- 
ing begins in the Northern States with the arrival 
of the first ducks and is kept up until the freezing of 
the waters ends the slaughter. As the ducks pro- 
ceed southward, new guns are ready for them, and in 
Southern waters, their winter quarters, they are perse- 
cuted until their departure in the spring. Not satis- 
fied with the results obtained with the cannon used 
by market gunners, the Mexicans have a method of 



WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 143 

slaughtering the birds even more destructive. The 
ducks are baited with barley and corn on the lakes 
and ponds, and carefully guarded and fed by men on 
horseback, who often ride among them slowly and ac- 
custom them to their appearance until the time for the 
" armada " arrives, when the ducks are driven slowly 
to the place of slaughter. 

Dr. W. H. Howe, of Mexico City, says:* " An ar- 
mada is built in a half circle, just above the water- 
line, where are placed from two to three hundred 
barrels ; one half set to rake the water, the other half 
to catch them just as they rise. The destruction is 
tremendous. I was at one armada some years ago, 
on the Hacienda Grande at the north end of Lake 
Texcoco. After the gathering was completed, I asked 
the overseer how many ducks were secured and he 
told me he did not know, as they count sixteen and 
then make a tally mark for a dollar ; but it amounted 
to $256, at sixteen to the dollar, which made it count 
up four thousand and ninety-six ducks at this one kill- 
ing. During the following spring, perhaps in April, 
Signora Cervantes de Rivas, of one of the oldest 
families of aristocratic Mexicans, owner of the Ha- 
cienda Grande, told me that the net profits on ducks 
that winter was a little over $13,000 on her hacienda. 
This would represent two hundred and eight thousand 
ducks for this one hacienda, and there are hundreds of 
other haciendas doing the same business with weekly 
or bi-weekly shoots. The number of ducks slaugh- 
tered is almost incalculable." The feathers, he was in- 
formed, are sent to Germany. It is not to be won- 

* In Field and Stream. 



144 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 

dered at that the ducks which run the gauntlet of the 
guns twice each year as they cross the United States, 
and accept the invitation to winter at the haciendas 
are diminishing. 

It is the fashion to shoot wild-fowl in the spring. 
One or two States have already, to their credit, pro- 
hibited shooting at this season, and the sportsmen are 
more and more convinced that spring shooting should 
be prohibited everywhere. The laws which have been 
most beneficial to the ducks are those which prohib- 
ited shooting for the market, the sale of game, the 
use of the big guns and the shooting on the feeding 
grounds and night shooting. 

We proceed to the marshes to pursue the swans, 
the geese, the brant, and the ducks. 



XX 

THE WILD SWANS 

THERE are two swans indigenous to North Amer- 
ica. Both are white birds, but they are easily 
distinguished by their size. The trumpeter swan is 
the larger and weighs from twenty to thirty pounds. 
The smaller bird, known as the whistling swan, 
weighs from twelve to twenty pounds. 

These birds are extremely wild and shy, and but 
few sportsmen have shot them. 

The smaller bird is found throughout America, and 
is still fairly abundant in the winter on the Currituck 
Sound, where Elliot says they do great damage to the 
feeding grounds, destroying very much more grass 
than they consume, and for this reason the}- are not 
altogether regarded with favor by sportsmen, as they 
soon render useless large tracts of grass-covered bot- 
tom to which ducks and geese would resort for a long 
time, but which they are forced to desert on account 
of the wasteful destruction. 

The swans fly in long lines like the geese, and are 
very beautiful in the air, as well as on the water 
when the sun shines on their white feathers. The 
smaller birds are said to be gaining in numbers in the 
Southern sounds and are common in Texas in the 
winter. They are more often shot as they fl}' over. 

145 



146 WILD-FOWL 

Formerly it was the practice to sail down on the birds, 
going with the wind. Since the heavy birds are com- 
pelled to rise against the wind and do so with diffi- 
culty they were often taken in this way, but shooting 
from sailing boats and all motor boats is now prohib- 
ited by law, and this protection, no doubt, is one of 
the causes of the increase of the swans on the club 
preserves. 

Swans when flying about are often so high as to be 
out of range and always on the lookout for danger. 
It is, of course, impossible to get near them with a 
boat propelled by oars. 

The young swans are fairly good to eat, but the old 
birds are tough and not desirable as food. The young 
are gray and easily distinguished from the old birds. 

I saw many swans in the Devil's Lake region. North 
Dakota, some years ago, but they are not nearly so 
abundant there or on the Pacific Coast as formerly. 

The trumpeter swan is named from its loud voice, 
which is said to resemble the notes of a French horn. 
This bird is found in the Mississippi valley and on 
the Pacific Coast, but never appears on the Atlantic 
Coast. 

Although the swans do not seem to be going fast, 
on account of their labored flight, they in fact go one 
hundred miles an hour; and anyone who will time the 
birds as they fly out of sight will be convinced that 
they are travelling rapidly. It is necessary to shoot 
well ahead of them, and large charges of powder and 
heavy shot are required to bring them down. 

The swans are so well able to get out of danger and 
so careful not to come near it that a wild-swan chase 



THE WILD SWANS 147 

is far more difficult than that of the far-famed wild 
goose. The latter come readily to decoys, but swans 
do not do so often enough to make it worth while to 
go out for them. 

Swans are often taken by stalking them when they 
are seen sitting on the shore. Upon a recent visit to 
Currituck I learned that the swans still winter there 
in large numbers, and found in the game-register of 
the Princess Anne Club records of bags containing 
7, 8, and even 12 swans killed by club-men in the past 
few years. 

Some swans were seen in a pond near one of our 
camps near the Cheyenne River, and a friend of mine 
spent several days trying to stalk them, without suc- 
cess, however. Meantime I had fair sport with the 
geese, canvas-backs, red-heads, scaups, mallards, 
spoonbills, teal, gadwalls, and shot many other ducks. 

I have the same objection to swans that I have to 
wild turkeys. It is entirely too long between shots, 
and in fact there is usually no shooting at all. 

Elliot, in his popular Ornithology, describes the pe- 
culiar musical notes of a wounded swan which he shot 
at Currituck Sound. He had never heard them before, 
and as the wounded bird floated down to the water, 
singing as it went, he was filled with astonishment and 
could only exclaim : " I have heard the song of the 
dying swan." 

I had always supposed, as Elliot did, that the death 
song existed alone in poetical fiction. 



T 



XXI 

WILD GEESE 

HE common wild-geese known as the Canada 
geese are familiar to everyone who observes 
wild birds at all. They fly liigh in the air in long 
lines converging to a point in front, where an old ex- 
perienced gander takes the lead and sounds the Jionk, 
which can be heard for a long distance, and which is 
taken up by those behind. The geese come to the 
United States from the north, usually late in October 
and during November, moving south as the waters 
freeze over. They are common on both coasts and in 
the interior. I have seen them in great numbers in 
the Missouri valley, and fairly abundant in the spring 
and autumn on the Long Island bays. They are eas- 
ily domesticated, and in Dakota I often saw birds 
which had been wounded and which were kept as de- 
coys. Geese are shot over wooden decoys and metal 
profiles, but the live birds are used wherever the geese 
come in any numbers, and, of course, are the best 
ones. It is impossible to distinguish the domesticated 
birds from the wild ones. I was once shooting over 
live birds in the West when I saw a Sioux Indian 
approach my stand, and when he discovered the geese 
he left his pony far out on the plain and carefully pro- 
ceeded to stalk them. I was perfectly concealed and 

enjoyed the performance, but stopped him just as he 

148 



V 




^;.5,r 



SHOT IJKIIINI) IlIM 



WILD GEESE 149 

was about to shoot, since I was afraid he would bag 
me with the geese. 

When the geese come in to the decoys it is possible 
to get several with one shot on the water, shooting at 
the heads which are close together, or nearly in line, 
and another bird with the second barrel as they take 
wing. I was once shooting ducks from a shore blind 
on one of the Long Island bays, and a market gunner 
was out on the open water in a battery with a flock of 
live wild geese as his decoys. A flock of seven geese 
appeared far out over the beach, honking as they 
came, and the decoys soon answered them from the 
water, when they turned and sailed gently down to 
join their friends. The market gunner waited for 
some time after the birds were on the water, and then 
fired two shots from one gun and two more from an- 
other before they were out of range and only one bird 
flew away. This went off a mile or more and then 
circled about and returned again to the decoys and 
was shot as he approached. 

The geese have apparently a slow flight, but as a 
matter of fact they move with great rapidity, and it is 
therefore necessary to shoot far ahead of them when 
passing. They are fond of sandy bars and beaches, 
and when they are discovered using such places a 
blind is made by sinking a box or barrel in the sand, 
and when the birds return they are attracted by de- 
coys and often come within easy range. 

They have a habit of resorting to the fields to feed 
in the morning and evening, returning in the middle 
of the day and at night to the lake or river, and they 
are often shot from a blind placed on their line of 



ISO WILD-FOWL 

flight. Great bags were made a few years ago, but 
the heavy shooting has sadly diminished their num- 
bers in Nebraska and throughout the Mississippi 
valley. 

I once saw a flock alight on the parade ground at 
Fort Buford, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and so 
long as the Sioux were a menace to the shooters the 
geese, and in fact the buffalo, elk, deer, and grouse 
were extremely abundant in that region. The num- 
ber of the ducks and geese was beyond belief. 

Geese and brant are still very abundant on the 
Pacific Coast. The San Francisco Evening Post con- 
tained a short article last September, stating that two 
shooters, W. E. Newbert and W. H. Young, of Sacra- 
mento, had recently killed one hundred and seventy- 
three geese or brant in Glenn County, California. 

The editor of Recreation, seeking material for the 
'* Game hog " department of that excellent little maga- 
zine, wrote and asked if the fact was correctly stated. 
Mr. Young replied, stating that they did kill one hun- 
dred and seventy-three geese or brant in one day's 
shoot, that is in two hours one evening and in five 
hours the following morning, but he says the geese in 
that neighborhood are very destructive to the newly 
sprouted grain and the farmers are compelled to hire 
men to keep them off their grain night and day. One 
hardware firm shipped to the Glenn ranch thousands 
of rifle cartridges each week to be used in driving 
geese oft the fields. 

A heavy fog causes the geese to fly low and often to 
alight. They seem to become confused and unable to 
proceed on their journey to the north or south. 



WILD GEESE 151 

It is most important for the sportsman to know 
what the birds are doing — what points they are flying 
over when they go out to the fields to feed, what 
course they take in returning to the water, what fields 
they are using, and in what particular part of a field 
they are feeding, and what sand-bar in the river or 
what part of the beach they frequent. Time spent 
in finding out what the birds are doing is well spent, 
since a blind or ambush placed where there are no 
birds is, of course, useless. When the shooting is to 
be done in a field, it is well to seek a place where the 
birds are feeding and after they have left, dig the holes 
in the ground and carefully remove the dirt, scatter it 
so it will not be noticeable and arrange the grass or 
stubble about the aperture, so as to make it resemble 
that adjoining. Remember that geese have very sharp 
eyes, and are quick to discover any change in the 
appearance of a field or sand-bar. When they are 
feeding some are always on the lookout and act as 
sentinels, and it is impossible to approach them within 
range. An ox trained to walk slowly along as though 
feeding has been used as a blind behind which to ap- 
proach the birds. 

Geese, like swans, are compelled to arise against the 
wind, and in California, Mr. Van Dyke says, a wagon 
may be driven down wind rapidly so as to carry the 
shooter within range, but the shots must be fired as 
the vehicle goes tearing along, since there is no time 
to stop it before the birds are out of range. 

Professional gunners can imitate the call of the 
geese and often turn them to the decoys by " honking" 
to them when the birds are passing at long range or 



152 WILD-FOWL 

high in the air. Live decoys will also call the passing 
flocks. 

A local law in New York State, but three lines long, 
which reads: "Web-footed wild-fowl shall not be 
taken in the county of Jefferson from February ist to 
August 31st, both inclusive ; or taken in the night from 
sunset until sunrise," caused the Canada goose and 
many ducks to become quite tame so that boats could 
approach them closely. Herbert Job recently found 
and photographed the nest of the Canada goose in 
North Dakota. 

At many of the duck clubs there are excellent 
punters, who know the grounds and where the 
geese are likely to be. The sportsman who handles 
his own boat must have a knowledge of what the 
birds are doing in order to be successful at this 
sport. 

Grinnell thinks the geese as well as the swans are 
increasing on the club preserves at Currituck. The 
laws prohibiting the shooting from sailing and motor 
boats and the club rules at two clubs forbidding 
spring shooting have had no doubt much to do with 
this. 



XXII 

OTHER WILD GEESE 
THE HUTCHINS GOOSE 

THE Hutchins goose might readily be mistaken by 
a sportsman not much familiar with wild-geese 
for the Canadian or common wild-goose, with which it 
is often seen associating. It is sometimes called the 
lesser Canada goose. It is shot in the same manner 
as other geese, and its flesh is excellent. It is found in 
the western portions of the United States. 

THE CACKLING GOOSE 

Ornithologists designate this goose as Branta Cana- 
densis minima. As the name would indicate it is a 
small Canada goose. It is a Western bird, abundant 
in California and at times seen in the Mississippi 
valley. A picture of this bird would be the same as 
that of the common wild-goose, the Branta Canadensis, 
and indistinguishable from that bird unless the size 
were given. 

The Emperor goose is very rare, more often seen in 
Alaska, I believe, than elsewhere. 

The Bean goose is given as an old-world species, 
which occasionally comes to our shores. 

153 



154 WILD-FOWL 

THE BLUE-GOOSE. 

One of the handsomest of the geese, the blue-goose, 
is but little known. It is more often seen migrating 
in the Mississippi valley. Its head and neck are white ; 
its breast, back, and wings are grayish-brown, and the 
under parts are white. I have never shot this goose, 
and in fact have never seen one near enough to recog- 
nize it. It was supposed to be the young of the 
snow-goose, but the ornithologists now say that it is a 
separate species. The sportsman who may be fortu- 
nate enough to bag one can readily identify it from 
the description. It does not frequent the Pacific Coast. 

THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 

The white-fronted goose is abundant on the Pacific 
Coast, and is also found in the Mississippi valley, and 
is said to be common in Texas. Elliot says the white- 
fronted geese are often seen associating with other 
geese, especially the snow-geese. I have seen thou- 
sands of snow-geese, but do not remember to have 
ever seen them associating with other geese. Other 
geese are often seen on the same lake or pond, but 
usually, I believe, by themselves. 

The geese are all shot in the sam-^ manner, over 
decoys or from ambush, as they fly from one feeding 
ground to another, or from the lakes to the fields. 
They will, when not too much shot, follow the same 
line of flight, and the observant sportsman will have no 
difficulty in getting under them; but he must be per- 
fectly concealed and remain motionless until they are 



OTHER WILD GEESE 155 

within range and then shoot quickly and well for- 
ward. 

I was once shooting geese and ducks in the West 
and had a soldier from the garrison who assisted in 
carrying the game, when two geese came flapping 
along and did not appear to be going fast. I saw them 
when they were some distance off, and was ready for 
them when they came within range, and expected fully 
to make a nice double. Aiming but a short distance 
ahead, I fired two shots in quick succession, but was 
not rewarded with a feather. The geese kept on their 
course, honking a farewell, and in about a minute had 
crossed a wide lake which was spread out behind me. 
I was aware that I had shot behind them both, and as 
they quickly disappeared from view realized how fast 
they were going. There is no bird whose flight is 
more deceptive. They are always going much faster 
than they seem to be. 



XXIII 

THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 

THE snow-geese are smaller than the Canada or 
common wild-geese, and are near the size of the 
brant, familiar to those who shoot on the bays of Long 
Island. There are three varieties, all white, as their 
name would indicate, and one of them, Ross's snow- 
goose, is one of the smallest geese known, adults of 
this species weighing only two and one-half to three 
pounds. 

The snow-goose and the lesser snow-goose are so 
much alike as to make it necessary to measure them 
carefully in order to distinguish them. 

The lesser snow-goose is the Western variety, and is 
found from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico. 
The greater snow-goose is the one found east of the 
Mississippi River, and was formerly vci-y abundant at 
Hudson's Bay, where a single hand has killed as many 
as a thousand in a season. 

The snow-geese were extremely abundant in Dakota 
a few years ago, and I have seen them when they cov- 
ered the ground in tremendous flocks, which resem- 
bled at a distance snow on the ground. They are 
extremely shy, but many are shot from a blind in the 
stubble-fields, or as they f\y to and from their feeding- 
grounds. 

156 



THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 157 

They are very abundant on the Pacific Coast, and in 
the Mississippi valley and in parts of Texas in the 
winter. The shooting of these geese is similar to that 
of the common wild-geese already discribed. They 
do not, I believe, come as readily to decoys. 

We occasionally took a long shot with a rifle at a 
flock of these birds which covered a large area of 
ground so closely that it seemed impossible to miss 
them, but such shots were usually not effective. As 
the ball struck among them, however, it was an amaz- 
ing sight to see them arise from the ground like great 
white clouds. 

An army officer with whom I was shooting on the 
ponds about the Cheyenne River one day wounded a 
snow-goose slightly in the wing, and after a long chase 
we captured it. It soon became quite tame, and ap- 
pears in a number of photographs of our camps, stand- 
ing like a domestic fowl, quite unconcerned by the 
presence of its enemies. 

Some one named it Genevieve, and when we moved 
our camp it usually had a seat in the ambulance, often 
in the lap of an officer, and became quite tame. When 
we returned to Fort Totten it was turned loose in a 
yard with some chickens and appeared perfectly at 
home, but when it recovered of its wound it took wing 
one day and joined one of the flocks which were con- 
tinually seen in the sky passing over. 

Ross's snow-goose is not uncommon in California, 
but is never found on the Atlantic Coast. But little is 
known of its habits, since it is a rare bird. It associ- 
ates with the lesser snow-goose. Hearne is quoted by 
Elliot as saying that its flesh is extremely delicate, and 



158 WILD-FOWL 

as a proof of it he ate two one night for supper, which 
was doing quite well, even for an arctic appetite. 



THE BRANT 

There are two brant often called brant-geese which 
resemble the Canada goose, but are much smaller. 

The common brant of the Eastern coasts is some- 
times met with in the interior, but it prefers the salt 
water and is common on the brackish bays of the At- 
lantic Coast. It may be described as a diminutive 
wild goose, being very similar to that bird. On the 
Pacific Coast this bird is replaced by a bird similar in 
size, known as the black brant. 

The common brant were formerly very abundant 
along the Eastern coast. I have seen many large flocks 
on the bays of Long Island, but the persistent shoot- 
ing, especially from batteries and sail-boats, has di- 
minished their numbers. Sailing after brant was an 
exciting and profitable sport, some years ago, but 
many of the States have now forbidden the use of sail- 
boats and all motor-boats in the pursuit of brant, 
geese, and ducks. It is to be hoped that New York 
will have better laws regulating the shooting of wild- 
fowl, and that these methods of pursuit and spring 
shooting may be abolished at the same time. 

The brant come to the North Atlantic Coast in Oc- 
tober, and are seen in large flocks. They do not fly in 
long lines or in the V-shaped formation, as the com- 
mon wild-geese do, but in a bunch, or in masses, with- 
out any orderly arrangement, and without a leader. 

They decoy readily, and respond to an imitation of 



THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 159 

their note, and their attention may be attracted to 
the decoys by raising and lowering a foot from the 
battery. 

Like the geese they are fond of sand, and may be 
shot as they travel to and from the bars, or from am- 
bush, when the place they are using is discovered. 

Brant do not fly very rapidly, and are not very diffi- 
cult marks; in fact they are quite easy when they 
come to the decoys. 

Their flesh is excellent, much better than that of the 
geese, and they are eagerly sought for in the markets. 
Their sale should be at all times prohibited, since this 
would end the shooting of pot-hunters and market 
gunners who annually destroy large numbers of brant. 

The black brant is, as the name would indicate, 
darker than the Eastern variety, but in other respects 
much like it. They are excellent table birds, and 
large numbers are shot every winter in California. 
They were extremely abundant on the bay at San 
Diego, but my stay in Southern California was of 
short duration, and I did not go in pursuit of them. 

The black brant fly usually strung out in long lines. 
They are wild, shy birds, and more easily taken over 
decoys than in any other manner. 

This bird, like the cinnamon teal, is seen as an occa- 
sional visitor to the Atlantic coasts, having no doubt 
missed its way when starting on the northern migra- 
tion. I have never seen them excepting in California. 

It was not unusual, some years ago, for California 
sportsmen and market-gunners to make immense bags 
of these birds, but over-shooting here, as elsewhere, 
has been followed by the usual result. 



XXIV 

TREE-DUCKS 

A REVIEW of the game-birds of North America 
would be incomplete without some mention of 
two peculiar birds known as the tree-ducks. But few 
sportsmen, excepting- those who have shot in the 
States which adjoin Mexico, are aware of the exist- 
ence of these birds. They are, however, shot and are 
good to eat, and the sportsman who goes to the Cali- 
fornia marshes or to Southern Texas may add them to 
his bag. 

Both these birds nest in trees. They are reported 
as not very wild or shy and as having been easily do- 
mesticated, when they associate with barn-yard fowls. 

The black-bellied tree-duck feeds in corn-fields and 
is said to do much damage to the crop. 

The fulvous tree-duck is found in Louisiana and 
Texas and breeds in the California marshes. 

These birds run well and dive well and are difificult 
to secure when wounded. They are described in the 
appendix sufficiently for the sportsman who may shoot 
one to identify it. 



1 60 



XXV 

SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 

THE sea-ducks and the geese and brant, which are 
shot often from the same blind, are well pro- 
tected by heavy plumage. The sportsman who has 
several guns may use the lo-gauge to advantage on 
these birds, but when the birds come to the decoys 
they are within the range of a i2-gauge, and when 
they do not come to the decoys they are more often 
out of range of any gun. At some of the clubs on the 
Chesapeake the 8-gauge is used to shoot at high-flying 
birds, but the use of guns larger than the lo-gauge is 
prohibited now in many States, and many others have 
laws prohibiting the use of all guns " excepting those 
fired from the shoulder in the ordinary manner." The 
laws prohibiting the use of guns larger than the lo are 
more accurate, since the strength of men varies and an 
athletic sportsman might swing a much larger gun 
than the 8, provided it be a single barrel. A uniform 
law prohibiting the use of all guns larger than lo 
would be satisfactory. I would be willing to see all 
guns larger than 12 prohibited, since a strong-shooting 
12 will kill enough ducks in a day to exceed the bag 
limit allowed on many preserves and provided by law 
in many States. 

It was formerly the fashion to shoot very large shot 

i6i 



i62 WILD-FOWL 

at ducks and geese, but the shot used to-day is smaller, 
Nos. 6 to 4 for ducks and 4 to 2 for brant and geese are 
best. The smaller shot makes a better pattern and the 
chances for striking the game in a vital place are in- 
creased. From 31^ to 3^ drams of powder is used in 
the 12 gauge, and as much more as the gun will burn 
to advantage in the 10. This may be ascertained by 
firing the gun over snow, when the unburned powder 
can be seen after the discharge. I prefer No. 5 or 6 
shot to No. 4 for sea-ducks and often shoot No. 7 at 
the river ducks, and have done good work with 8 early 
in the autumn when the shots were at close range. 

Sea-duck shooting calls for warm flannels, heavy 
corduroy, and water-proofs, since the weather is often 
extremely cold and windy and the sportsman must face 
the storms of snow and sleet. Both clothes and hat 
must resemble the marsh grass in color. By no means 
wear a black hat or coat. Suits are for sale in the 
stores made entirely of the marsh grass. 

There are four principal methods of capturing sea- 
fowl : (i) shooting over decoys from the shore; (2) 
shooting over decoys from batteries or sink-boxes on 
the water; (3) point shooting or flight shooting at 
passing birds, and (4) shooting in a line of boats on 
the open water. To these may be added the tolling 
of the birds with small dogs, an interesting method of 
pursuit practised on the Chesapeake and perhaps else- 
where. 

Sailing after brant and ducks is another method 
used on some of the bays of Long Island and else- 
where, but this has been found to drive the birds 
away. 



SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 163 

In shooting over decoys the start is made quite early 
in the morning, often long before daylight. The 
sportsman, accompanied by a local gunner or bay-man, 
sails away in the dark to the point selected for his 
ambush. Many decoys (each attached by a long string 
to a weight, often a half brick or scrap of iron) are 
stowed away in the boat. These wooden counterfeits 
are painted to represent the varieties which frequent 
the bay — canvas-backs, red-heads, scaups or black- 
heads, ruddy-ducks, widgeons, bufifle-heads and others, 
and often mergansers. A few geese and brant decoys 
are in the outfit to be used to allure the passing geese 
or brant. When the objects of pursuit are geese or 
brant only, a larger flock of these decoys is carried, 
and often a lot of live birds, both ducks and geese, are 
used as decoys. 

It is always a cold and often a stormy voyage down 
the bay, and the heaviest coat and a rain-coat over 
all will be found necessary to keep out the wind and 
cold. As the boat proceeds flocks of water-fowl may 
be heard arising from the water or passing overhead on 
rushing, whistling wings. When the place selected for 
a blind (usually a point or bar where the ducks are 
feeding) is reached, the blind is hastily constructed, 
provided it has not been made before, and the decoys 
are set out on the water, within easy range of the guns. 
The best blind is a box sunk in the sand or mud, 
with some seaweed or sedge, or whatever is near, scat- 
tered about, and even over the sportsman after he has 
extended himself in the box. Blinds are often made of 
seaweeds, grass, rushes, reeds, and bushes, and when 
they are so erected above the ground, it is well to 



i64 WILD-FOWL 

make them some days before the shooting- begins, in 
order that the birds may become accustomed to them. 

When sea-duck shooting it is most important to 
know what the birds are doing, or more accurately 
(since the decision as to where the blind is to be 
placed is often made in the dark) to know what 
the birds will be doing when daylight comes. The 
old salts who have spent their lives on the bay 
are not only good weather prophets, but good duck 
prophets as well. First of all the wind must be con- 
sidered and a decision reached as to what the wind 
will be during the morning flight. Ducks, it must be 
remembered, do not frequent a windward shore. It 
having been determined that the wind will be in a 
certain direction, the various desirable points for a 
blind are considered, and the one most likely is 
selected. The ducks, for reasons of their own, will 
be seen "using," as it is termed, certain points or 
waters in preference to others which appear equally 
as good, and it is to the point where the bay-man has 
seen the birds (when the wind is off shore) that he 
will turn his prow. 

The city sportsman who places himself in the hands 
of a local bay-man will hardly fail to have good shoot- 
ing. It is well, however, for him to know the " whys 
and wherefores," to be able to sail his own boat and to 
estimate for himself what the ducks will be doing, for 
the knowledge of such things contributes largely to the 
making of a duck-shooter. The sportsman who knows 
where to place his decoys will often enjoy very good 
shooting and return to the cabin, hotel, or club to meet 
another who has not shot a bird, for the simple reason 



SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 165 

that the latter did not know where to place his blind. 
A place which affords excellent shooting to-day may be 
worthless to-morrow, the wind having shifted. Ducks, 
too, are easily driven away from a given point by much 
shooting, and the place where many ducks are killed 
for several days in succession will be readily surren- 
dered by an old hand to a novice. It is more important 
to know what the ducks are doing than it is to shoot 
well, for without the ducks one cannot shoot at all. 
A bay-man or an old duck shooter will often take a run 
about the bay to see what places the birds are using 
and to " locate " them, as it is termed, and time so con- 
sumed is well spent. An amusing reference to this 
practice appears in a law prohibiting Sunday shooting 
in North Carolina, which provides that " it shall be 
unlawful to sail, row, or propel a boat over Currituck 
Sound on the Lord's day for the purpose of locating 
wild fowl for a future day." This law, as I said, writ- 
ing recently for The Century, may be regarded as the 
high-water mark of game legislation. It would seem 
necessary for the sportsman sailing the waters of Cur- 
rituck on the Lord's day to close his eyes. 

In many of the States it is now unlawful to shoot at 
ducks in the night season before '' sunrise or after sun- 
down " as the statutes read. This is as it should be, 
and the shooting of ducks on Sunday is also prohibited. 
In North Carolina, where by the way are to be found 
the finest grounds on the Eastern Coast for sea-ducks, 
it is unlawful for any person to leave any landing or 
anchorage before sunrise in the morning for the pur- 
pose of hunting wild-fowl or to put decoys into the 
water before sunrise. This law in many places would 



i66 WILD-FOWL 

sadly interfere with a good morning's shooting, since 
the shooting is best in the hour just after sunrise, and, 
when the blind is some distance from the house, the 
time consumed in going to it is the time when the 
shooting should be done. The first few hours of the 
morning and the last few hours of daylight are the 
best for duck shooting. The birds are then flying 
about and feeding and are allured by the decoys. 
The flight will continue longer on wild, windy, stormy 
days. On still warm days there is often a poor flight 
in the morning, which ceases at an early hour, and 
throughout the rest of the day until just before sun- 
down not a bird will be seen in the air. At such times 
the sportsmen may be observed standing up in their 
blinds and looking at the rafts of ducks which float 
quietly on the water far out of reach of the guns. 

When a flock of ducks observes the decoys they will 
often turn and head straight toward them, but usually 
circle about before alighting. As the birds come near 
it is of the utmost importance to remain absolutely 
motionless. The ducks have sharp eyes and will surely 
see the slightest move on the part of the sportsman 
and instantly be gone. Should the concealment be 
only partial when the birds are discovered approach- 
ing the blinds do not try to better it, but remain ab- 
solutely still. The fact that the ducks have headed 
toward the decoys indicates they have not seen the 
shooter, but if he lower his head or make any other 
move in the endeavor to better his concealment the 
birds will certainly escape. 

When the ducks are well up to the decoys, and not 
before, it is time to shoot. The first shot is an easy 



SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 167 

one since the birds are flying slowly and have spread 
their tails as a brake, and with lowered feet are flap- 
ping to alight. At the report of the gun, however, the 
ducks spring high in the air and are soon under full 
headway. The second shot is often missed by reason 
of under shooting. The gun should be aimed well 
over the rising birds, and far in advance of them, if 
they are going off to right or left. It was formerly 
the practice to aim at the flock when the birds were 
closely huddled together, in the hope of killing a num- 
ber at a shot, but such is not the better way. The 
sportsman should select a bird for each barrel and try 
to kill it instantly — " clean," the gunners say. The 
dead birds are easily recovered, the wounded, unfortu- 
nately, often get away. In shooting into the flock 
many birds besides those killed will receive a part of 
the charge and, wounded, get away. 

In North Dakota and other States where the legal 
bag limit is twenty-five birds or less per diem, two or 
three double shots at the hovering flocks will put an 
end to the day's sport, so that it is no longer to the 
sportsman's interest to take the pot-shots in the air or 
on the water. 

A retrieving dog is always used. The best dog for 
this purpose is the Chesapeake Bay dog — a strong 
water-dog, able to stand the roughest weather and the 
icy waters of the bay, and to find the birds in the heav- 
iest sedge. Such dogs are owned by sportsmen who 
shoot on the Chesapeake, and at the clubs at Curri- 
tuck, and they may be found here and there through- 
out the West. The dog is trained to remain motion- 
less in the blind until ordered to retrieve. He will 



i68 WILD-FOWL 

often detect the birds at great distances and indicate 
their presence by a glance of the eye. 

Ducks which are passing the blind at a distance 
without seeing the decoys may have their attention 
directed to them by tossing a hat in the air, or by rais- 
ing one foot high up from the blind or battery and 
quickly lowering it. The motion may be repeated 
two or three times, but when the birds turn on no ac- 
count repeat it. Their eyes are now on the decoys 
and they will surely detect the hat or boot if they are 
shown again. An old market gunner with whom I 
shot ducks many seasons on the Shinnecock Bay 
taught me how to raise a foot above the side of a bat- 
tery, and explained that the passing birds, attracted 
by the motion, believed, no doubt, the foot was a duck 
rising on end as they sometimes do when on the water, 
and the deception was the more complete since the 
motion appeared in the centre of the flock of decoys. 
I often cxhil)ited my foot to the passing scaups and 
red-heads and saw them wheel directly for the decoys. 
When the birds are discovered passing at a long dis- 
tance the foot may be raised quite high and several 
times in quick succession, but when the flock is pass- 
ing near raise the foot but once and not very high 
from the water, I have seen the ducks return after 
having passed the battery when a raised foot attracted 
their attention. 

A writer for a sportsman's magazine published in 
San Francisco, says the newly painted decoys are not 
so good as the older and duller ones. There is much 
truth in this, no doubt. Certain it is that highly 
painted and varnished decoys which shine brightly in 



SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 169 

the sun will not attract tlie birds. The painting should 
always have a dull hnish. 

Shooting over decoys, with all its hardships, is splen- 
did sport. When the ducks come in quick succession 
one docs not feel the cold. For my part, as I have said, 
I prefer the shooting over dogs, but I have had many 
a good day, both on salt water and fresh, shooting sea- 
ducks and river-ducks over the decoys. 

Tiie method of shooting ducks from batteries is fa- 
miliar to those who shot some years ago at Currituck, 
or later on the Long Island bays. At Currituck it is 
now unlawful for non-residents to use the battery. Its 
use is barred absolutely in many other States, but the 
influence of the market gunners, it is said, has been 
suf^cient to prevent the passage of such legislation in 
New York. I have had many good days in the bat- 
teries when I killed many ducks and thoroughly en- 
joyed the shooting, but I now believe the use of bat- 
teries should everywhere be prohibited. The battery 
may be briefly described as a water-tight box, large 
enough to hold the shooter lying down, with a wide 
rim which floats on the water. The box is made to 
sink to the rim by placing weights about its edge. 
The battery with one hundred or more decoys is car- 
ried on a sail-boat to the feeding-ground of the ducks, 
often far out on the open water, and when the sports- 
man has taken his place in it, the bay-man, who has put 
out the decoys, sails away to a distance, usually to lee- 
ward, and picks up the ducks as they are killed and 
drift toward him.* Any large flocks which may be 

* If it be windy and there is danger of the battery sinking, the attendant 
will sail to windward in order to be able to return quickly. 



I70 WILD-FOWL 

on the bay are put up by the bay-man sailing down 
upon them, and these as they fly about are attracted 
to the decoys. The objection to this form of sport is, 
of course, that it drives the birds from their feeding 
grounds, besides being very destructive. Immense 
numbers of ducks have been shot from a battery in a 
day. 

Point shooting is at passing birds. As they travel 
from one feeding ground to another the ducks are 
required often to pass near or over certain points 
where the shooting is at times excellent. The shoot- 
ing is more difficult than shooting over decoys, since 
the shots are usually at long range and fired at birds 
under full headway. To estimate correctly the rate 
of speed and the distance of a passing duck, requires 
much practice, and a good shot is he who can often 
send his load of shot far enough in advance to meet 
the swiftly moving mark. Shoot yards, not feet, ahead 
of the fastest birds when passing at long range. Each 
shot is different and must have its own estimate. 
Practice alone will make a good pass-shooter. Do 
not be afraid of shooting too far in advance of the 
birds. The shooting in the line of boats and the toll- 
ing with small dogs, will be described in connection 
with the birds so taken. 

In California and the Gulf States the sea-duck shooter 
has finer weather, and in many places, particularly in 
Louisiana, Texas, and Southern California the shoot- 
ing is still very good indeed. 



XXVI 

THE CANVAS-BACK 

FAMOUS is the canvas-back. Many sportsmen re- 
gard him as first of all the water-fowl. Epicures 
never tire of praising him. One of the largest of the 
d Licks, he is also very handsome. The head is a dark 
chestnut red. The back is white, marked with nar- 
row waved black lines, which give it the light-gray 
appearance which suggested the name. The bill and 
breast are black. Size, beauty, and table qualities are 
here combined, and the canvas-back is rightly named 
" the king of ducks." 

Although classified as a sea-duck, this bird is found 
throughout North America, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. I found the canvas-backs abundant in North 
Dakota, where they arrive early in the autumn and 
remain until the ponds and lakes are frozen over. 
Herbert Job recently found many nests of these birds 
on the same ground in the spring. Bendire found it 
breeding in Oregon. It no doubt breeds at all suitable 
places from Dakota to the Pacific Coast. Most of 
these ducks, however, go farther north upon their 
spring migration. 

The canvas-back is distinctly an American bird. No 
other ducks resemble it excepting the red-head duck 
and its analogue the pochard of Europe. Red-heads 

171 



172 WILD-FOWL 

have often been sold in the markets as canvas-backs, 
but the birds are easily distinguished. The bill of the 
red-head is blue, not black. Its head is round, not 
angular like that of the canvas-back. The back of 
the red-head is much darker than that of the canvas- 
back. 

A few years ago these birds came in immense num- 
bers to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the other 
bays and sounds of the Atlantic Coast, and the shooting 
grounds brought high rentals. Excessive shooting, 
however, by sportsmen and the market gunners, has 
so reduced the number of the birds as to make the 
shooting-grounds of the Chesapeake far less valuable, 
and at many points there is to-day but little sport or 
none at all. The ducks were nowhere more persecuted 
than on the waters of this bay, all the points being held 
by clubs. They were assailed from every side by land, 
and the market gunners with huge guns fired broad- 
sides into them as they slept upon the water. This 
shooting was kept up from the moment of the birds' 
arrival in the fall until the ice put an end to the slaugh- 
ter ; and in the spring the shooting ended only when 
the last bird unshot had flown away. The high prices 
(often several dollars) which the birds commanded in 
the markets stimulated the market gunners to great 
activity, and the wonder is that a bird remains. So 
abundant were the canvas-backs in former years that 
slaves were fed with them, and contracts are said to be 
in existence which contain provisions against such 
feeding to slaves whose services were rented. 

These birds came until quite recently in great num- 
bers to the bays and ponds about the great lakes. 



THE CANVAS-BACK 173 

There are records at the clubs of famous bags, but 
here, as on the Atlantic Coast, they no longer come as 
formerl3\ In looking over the game register at one 
of the Lake Erie clubs, I observed that in former years 
over one thousand canvas-backs were often killed, but 
more recently the total for the year has been less than 
one hundred birds. Farther west, however, at some 
of the preserves in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and on 
many lakes and ponds, these splendid birds still come 
in better numbers, and they were reported not long 
ago in certain places on the Pacific Coast as abundant 
as they ever were on the Chesapeake Bay. 

Many States have now good laws for their protec- 
tion, which limit the bag, prohibit market shooting, the 
sale of game, the use of big guns and batteries and all 
blinds on the feeding grounds; and if the shooting in 
the spring is prohibited, the sportsmen in the West, at 
least, will no doubt continue to enjoy good shooting. 

The food of the canvas-backs consists largely of a 
water plant popularly termed wild celery {valesnerid) 
This food imparts a peculiarly delicious flavor to their 
flesh. On the Pacific Coast they feed upon a bulbous 
plant which the Indians call wapato isapcllaria vari- 
abilis) which renders their flesh equally delicious. It 
is only when they can obtain the wild celery or the 
wapato that the birds are worthy of high praise. 
The red-head and widgeon, when feeding on the same 
food have a similar flavor; but all of these birds, when 
their food consists of small marine animals, have the 
same sedgy or fishy taste and are no more desirable as 
food than many other sea-fowl. As a general proposi- 
tion, I may here observe that the so called river-ducks 



174 WILD-FOWL 

are better food than tlic sea-foul or divers, as usually 
they are free from all hshv taste, since their food is 
largely corn, wild rice, and acorns. 

1 have eaten the canvas-backs from the Chesapeake, 
on the ground where they are supposed to be cooked 
and served the best, and by no means dispute their 
table qualities, but the wood-duck fed on acorns and 
the mallards fed on corn and wild rice are their equal, 
and I am inclined to believe, with many sportsmen of 
mv acquaintance and the great Audubon besides, that 
the little blue-wing teal is their superior. I prefer, 
however, the shooting of all game to the eating, and 
am prepared to leave such questions to the epicures. 

The latter have always insisted that the canvas- 
backs from the Chesapeake are the best, and there is 
an amusing story of an Ohio senator, who argued with 
some Eastern friends that the Western canvas-backs 
were just as good. Secretly he procured some birds 
from the Ohio marshes and served them at a dinner to 
which his friends were invited. The birds, well cooked 
and served, were excellent, and during the repast the 
Eastern epicures often asked their host to admit their 
superiority. This he did, much to his amusement, of 
course, and later to their discomfiture. 

At the Lake Erie clubs and on manv other Western 
shooting grounds the canvas-backs and the mallards 
and other dabblers may be shot the same dav. Not 
on the same ground, however. The canvas-backs will 
be found diving in the deeper water, the mallards dab- 
bling in the shallow ponds near by. 

I have regarded the canvas-backs as the wilder 
birds, possibly because 1 have shot them only when 



THE CANVAS-BACK 175 

they were the least abundant, but Mr. Cumming, a 
San Francisco sportsman, writing recently for a maga- 
zine, says the mallards are far more wary in the tule 
marshes of his State. " Should the sportsman," he 
observes, " have found the mallards and returned 
with fifty birds, he is entitled to a hat-raise and bow 
from his fellow sportsmen, but if he has that number 
of the dull-witted cans., no such obeisance should be 
accorded him. The canvas-backs must be classed as 
the most foolish duck that frequent these waters. 
When they are found in a feeding-pond where their 
favorite food is plentiful, they are easy game, provided 
the man behind the gun keeps out of sight. After the 
birds have been 'jumped 'out of the pond, he has 
only to place out two or three dozen decoys and the 
birds will soon work their way back in pairs or in 
small flocks, sometimes circling around a little to see 
if the coast is clear, but generally dropping quietly 
among the decoys. 

" When they ascertain to their satisfaction that ap- 
pearances seem favorable for an uninterrupted feed 
their heads drop into an easy position, indicating 
security, and they soon disappear beneath the surface. 
As they arrive from time to time in flocks and a num- 
ber are under water, the hunter should open fire at 
those upon the surface, and as the others come up treat 
them to another barrel." 

This may do for one who cares to shoot tame birds 
on the water, but when the legal limit to the bag (fifty 
birds per diem) is easily reached, most sportsmen pre- 
fer the shooting on the wing. 

The same writer says : " Many consider the mallard 



176 WILD-FOWL 

superior to all others as a choice table morsel, but hunt- 
ers and duck critics differ. My experience suggests 
that the sprig is equally delicious if not a better bird." 
It will be noticed that the canvas-back is not mentioned. 

Canvas-backs are usually shot over decoys. A num- 
ber of the counterfeits are placed out wnthin easy 
range of the blind, and to these the birds come readily 
when they have not been much shot at; but they soon 
learn not only to avoid a blind but to f\y high in cross- 
ing over points, and on the Eastern waters they are as 
wild and shy as any duck that flies and far different 
from the " dull-witted cans." of California. 

Before putting out the decoys the birds are driven 
away without shooting at them, and from time to time 
they return singly or in small numbers, or perhaps in 
flocks. As they sail slowly up to the decoys, or hover 
over them preparatory to alighting, they are easy 
marks, but as they spring from the shot of the first 
barrel they are far more difficult, and he who makes a 
" double " has reason to be proud of his achievement. 

The sportsman makes an early start for canvas-backs 
and should have his decoys in the water by daylight. 
The shooting is best in the early hours, and again late 
in the afternoon, when the second flight begins. Dur- 
ing the middle of the day he may well desert his blind 
and try the neighboring marshes with his setters for 
the snipe. In Oiegon, a Mongolian pheasant is often 
added to the bag. 

Canvas-backs are also shot fi'om points as they fly 
over from one feeding ground to another. This sport 
is more difficult ; the shots are usually at long range 
and at swiftly flying marks, since the birds are under 





**^^^]l 



THE CANVAS-BACK 177 

full headway as they pass, and go from sixty to ninety 
miles an hour, and (before the wind) it may be faster. 
In Oregon the canvas-backs are highly prized. In a 
recent article, " Duck-shooting along the Columbia," 
Mr. J. B. Thompson says : " It was the way of the duck 
hunters to ignore all other ducks, mallards, teal, wid- 
geon, sprigs, and to confine their shooting entirely to 
canvas-backs. In a good year, and most years were 
good, it was not difficult to kill all one could carry. 
Of late years— since about 1894 to be more exact— can- 
vas-backs are not as abundant nor as good eating; the 
cause being generally attributed, no doubt correctly, 
to the almost total disappearance of their favorite food 
the wapato. In an unfortunate moment some impulse, 
not wholly for good, prompted a certain United States 
hsh commissioner to place in the haunts of the canvas- 
backs the lowly and inglorious carp. Why this was 
done no one seems to have ascertained. It could not 
have been because good fish were lacking, for the 
Columbia and its tributaries were full of the lordly 
Chinook salmon and other varieties of the same fish, 
and the smaller streams were alive with trout. At any 
rate the carp were brought in, and, like most things 
undesirable, they stayed and throve prodigiously, and 
from that time every green and growing thing on the 
feeding grounds of the ducks began to disappear, until 
finally, about six years ago, few wapato and very little 
else which might be classed as food could be found 
there. The high water of 1894 may have aided the 
carp by depositing silt and sand over these lakes and 
ponds. The food being gone the canvas went also ; 
and the few that are shot now are poor and flavorless." 



178 WILD-FOWL 

The same writer says the canvas-backs were formerly 
as abundant on the lakes and ponds near the Columbia 
River as they ever were on the waters of Chesapeake 
Bay and their flesh was as fine. 

Present indications, he adds, promise better things, 
however ; for it is believed that the wapato was not 
totally exterminated and that with care and the de- 
struction of the carp the canvas-back may again flourish 
as in years past. 

The same results followed the introduction of the 
carp into Ohio waters. A short time ago the super- 
intendent of the Winous Point Club informed me that 
the carp had become a positive nuisance. They de- 
stroyed the wild rice and other vegetation in the 
marshes to such an extent that the ducks had little 
left to feed on where food was formerly abundant. 
Some fishermen, he said, recently caught eight tons 
of carp in one haul of a net, and a catch of six tons was 
not unusual. The fish were offered for sale in Port 
Clinton, but the market being overstocked, they were 
taken to Sandusky on a tug, and there being no sale 
for them there they were finally disposed of to a fertil- 
izing establishment at $2.00 per ton. This matter of 
the carp and their destruction of the marshes is of the 
utmost importance to the many duck clubs and owners 
of preserves, and in fact to all who shoot ducks. The 
carp are said to destroy the plants by rooting, causing 
them to fall and die. It is most unfortunate that the 
carp, like the sparrows, seem to have come to stay. 
The Department of Agriculture now has the authority 
and will no doubt prevent the further introduction of 
such pests. 



THE CANVAS-BACK 179 

The canvas-backs feed by diving for the wild celery 
or the wapato, and amusing accounts are given of the 
widgeon, which floats near by and when the canvas-back 
comes to the surface with a choice morsel quickly 
seizes and devours it. 

The canvas-backs still come in goodly numbers to 
some of the preserves owned by the clubs at Curri- 
tuck, N. C, and the shooting there is often very fine. 
The late President Harrison was the guest of the 
Ragged Island Club during his term of office, and 
enjoyed some good shooting. 

When the sea-ducks are much shot at, especially on 
their feeding grounds, they will often desert the waters 
of the bay and spend the day far out upon the ocean. 
They return at night to feed. In North Carolina and 
Maryland and in Ohio, and perhaps elsewhere, certain 
days are set aside each week when all shooting is pro- 
hibited. At the clubs certain rest days are provided 
for by club rules, and some clubs in Oregon, Mr. 
Thompson says, allow but one day's shooting each 
week. 

Canvas-backs, like antelope, have a great deal of 
curiosity, and they are brought within range of the 
gun by the use of a small dog, which is trained to run 
about on the beach and seek chips or small sticks tossed 
for him from the blind. The feeding ducks are soon 
attracted by the performance of the dog, and after ob- 
serving him a short time, swim toward the shore, 
their interest seeming to increase as they approach, 
until finally they are within range. This method of 
capture is called tolling. Heavy guns and heavy loads 
are used to shoot these fowls. Where rest days are 



i8o WILD-FOWL 

provided for the ducks they are always less wild and 
less suspicious, and the shooting is accordingly much 
better. 

Canvas-backs are still shot from batteries or sink- 
boxes, but since my shooting from these contrivances 
has been at scaups — the black-heads — and the shooting 
is the same, I defer the description of this method of 
pursuit, saying only here, as I shall say again later, 
that this form of sport should everywhere be prohib- 
ited, as it is now in many States. 



XXVII 

THE RED-HEAD 

THE gray back of the red-head duck is similar but 
darker than that of the canvas-back. The color 
of the head is the same or nearly so, the dark chestnut- 
red being brighter in this species than in the canvas- 
back. The shape of the two heads and the color of 
the bills, as I have observed, render the identification 
easy, and when their food is the same as the latter 
birds, they are excellent on the table. Their flesh 
often has a fishy or sedgy taste, and then may be said 
to resemble that of the scaups or black-heads more 
than the canvas-backs. 

I have shot red-heads on the waters of Long Island 
and as far west as Dakota, and do not regard these 
birds as equal to the mallards, teal, or wood duck. 
In the West, like that of many of the shore-birds, their 
flesh is usually better than that of the birds shot on 
Long Island Sound or the bays along the Atlantic 
Coast, for the reason that it has not the sedgy or fishy 
taste so often observed in salt-water birds. As a rule, 
I think the Western sportsmen are inclined to stand 
up for their ducks, as it were, and insist that they are 
superior to the sea-ducks. M}' earl}^ education was 
acquired, however, on the waters of the Shinnecock 
Bay and on Long Island Sound, and I was prepared 
to defend even the merganser or shell-drake as food 

i8i 



i82 WILD-FOWL 

birds; but I am satisfied, as a general proposition, that 
the ducks that feed on corn and wheat, and the wild- 
rice or wild-oats and acorns, are superior to those 
which find their food in the salt marshes and bays 
near the ocean. The same rule obtains with reference 
to the black-breasted plover and many of the shore- 
birds, as we shall observe later. 

The red-heads arrive from the South in March usu. 
ally, sometimes earlier if the weather is suitable, and 
when not much shot at remain until late in the 
spring. Many of them would no doubt breed in New 
York State if given a chance, and they no doubt will 
be before long, since the sentiment against shooting 
wild-fowl in the spring is spreading rapidly. Mr. Job 
found them recently breeding with the canvas-backs 
and ruddy-ducks in good numbers about the lakes of 
North Dakota. 

In the autumn the red-heads return so soon as the 
weather turns cold, usually in November, but earlier if 
the Northern waters should freeze over. Large num- 
bers still come to the bays and along the Atlantic 
Coast, and they are a very common duck during their 
migration across the Middle and Western States to the 
Rocky Mountains. Large numbers are killed annually 
at the many duck clubs about the Great Lakes, and I be- 
lieve there are more red-heads killed during the flight 
at the St. Clair flats in Michigan than any other 
ducks The flight was hardly on when I left the flats, 
but the local gunners were all engaged in painting 
red-head decoys, and a few days later these ducks were 
so abundant in the Detroit markets that many could 
not be used, and, the weather turning warm, they were 



THE RED-HEAD 



183 



thrown away. Here, as elsewhere, they come in 
greatly diminished numbers each year, and unless the 
spring shooting, the shooting of the large guns, and 
the use of batteries is stopped as well as forbidden, it 
will not be long before the red-head is a rare bird, or 
will only be seen in the museum of natural history. 
The Canadian Club own a vast preserve on the east side 
of the flats, and since the shooting there begins later, 
and is conducted under proper regulations, the birds, 
fortunately, have there a harbor of refuge which will 
do much toward their preservation. The clubs near 
Toledo and Sandusky also arc a benefit to the ducks, 
but at some of these the shooting has been excessive. 
The following, which I copied from the club register 
at Winous Point, near Port Clinton, Ohio, shows that 
the red-heads are by no means as abundant as in for- 
mer years : 



Red-Heads 



i«8t 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 



1415 
1987 
1699 

927 
105S 

366 
21 

56 
16 

63 



Red -Heads 



1891 

1892 

1893 

1894, 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898. 

1899 

1900 



31 
510 
216 

40 

5 

207 

68 

4 

I 



Excessive shooting at this club T am sure was not 
the only reason for the diminution of the game. But 
few guns visit the club each season, and although there 



i84 WILD-FOWL 

is here no bag limit, the shooting has not been suffi- 
cient to cause the red-heads so nearly to disappear. 
The failure of their food, its destruction by the carp, 
and the excessive shooting by the market gunners at 
St. Clair, on the north, and in the Southern States dur- 
ing the winter, have no doubt combined to bring about 
the unfortunate result shown by the club register. 
Singular it is, if true, as I am informed, that the clubs 
of the Lake Erie region are opposed to laws prohibit- 
ing spring shooting. Many ducks would no doubt 
remain to breed on their preserves were there no guns 
fired at them in the spring. 

The shooting of the red-heads is similar to that of 
the canvas-backs. They come to the same decoys and 
present about the same marks. I have shot them 
from a sail-boat on Long Island Sound, and have shot 
them in the West, where they were sufficiently abun- 
dant to need no decoys. I once killed quite a num- 
ber ot these birds shooting on a pass between two 
lakes, in North Dakota, and their flight was extremely 
rapid. They passed quite close to my ambush, how- 
ever, since it was well placed at a point where I 
observed these ducks and many others passing in both 
directions. Thousands which had been driven out at 
our approach, were returning to one of the lakes, and 
although I had no decoys and had been shooting too 
much at the grouse to do well with the swifter marks, 
I had no trouble in making a good bag. The red- 
heads, like the canvas-backs, are great divers, and it is 
difficult on that account to secure wounded birds when 
they fall in the water. When a bird falls with his 
head up, or is evidently only wounded, it is a matter 



THE RED-HEAD 185 

of economy as well as humanity to give him the sec- 
ond barrel before he strikes the water. I found it 
difficult to recover wounded birds from a sail-boat. As 
we approached them swimming on the water, they 
went under before they could be picked up, and ap- 
peared again a long way off. The best retrievers often 
fail to secure them. The red-heads are not abundant 
on the Pacific Coast. Mr. Thompson, in a recent 
article, " Duck Shooting Along the Columbia," says 
the red-head, along that stream, is very rare. I found 
the red-heads this spring extremely abundant at Back 
Bay, Currituck, far more abundant than any other 
duck. 



XXVIII 

THE SCAUP-DUCKS 

THE scaup-ducks, known to sportsmen in different 
parts of the country as black-heads, blue-bills, or 
broad-bills, come to the United States usually in Octo- 
ber and are found not only on both coasts but through- 
out the interior. There are two distinct species, 
exactly alike except in size ; one known as the big 
black-head, big broad- or blue-bill, and the other as the 
little black-head, blue-bill or broad-bill. The latter 
is also called creek broad-bill or blue-bill. These two 
ducks are often confused, with the result that one is 
often reported abundant in one locality when as a 
matter of fact it is the other. They were formerly 
supposed to be the same, but the ornithologists are 
now agreed that the two species are as distinct as 
the greater and lesser yellow-leg tattlers, the king rail 
and the Virginia rail, and some other birds which are 
exactly alike in pattern and color, but which are not 
related. Elliot is of the opinion that the larger black- 
heads are more often found about the coasts and the 
smaller birds in the interior. Both have black heads, 
as the name would suggest. The fore-parts of the 
back, lower-back, and rump are black. The middle 
part of the back and sides is white, undulated with 
black lines similar to those of the red-head, which 

l86 



THE SCAUP-DUCKS 187 

gives the back and sides the gray appearance com- 
mon to both canvas-backs and red-heads. The head 
of the larger variety is said to have green reflections; 
that of the smaller bird is said to have purple reflec- 
tions, but iridescent color reflections are usually 
changeable and, as Elliot says, feathers which reflect 
green in one light may be purple in another. From 
the sportsman's point of view the birds are the same, 
excepting as to size. Both birds come nicely to 
decoys, fly with great rapidity, and are excellent food 
when feeding on water grass; but not so palatable 
when the diet is unfavorable. 

These ducks, like the canvas-backs and red-heads, 
are expert divers, and, like the others, use their wings 
under water to propel themselves when in search of 
food, or seeking to escape when wounded. 

The flocks of the smaller scaup are often larger, 
much larger, in fact, than those of the big black-heads, 
which usually contain from six or less, to ten or twelve 
birds. Herbert Job recently observed the scaups, big 
and little, in pairs on the Dakota lakes in the spring, 
and secured a photograph of the nest of the smaller 
bird. These birds, like the other sea-fowl, are well 
protected with feathers and require hard hitting to 
bring them down. I used to use No. 3 or 4 shot for 
all sea-ducks, but have later used No. 5 or 6 with 
better results. 

In addition to the big and little black-heads, there is 
another bird very similar to the little scaup, which is 
known as the ring-neck duck. This duck is often 
called the shuffler, tufted duck, and ring-neck black 
duck, and has a wide distribution throughout North 



i88 WILD-FOWL 

America. It is often found in company and con- 
founded with the little scaup. It is nowhere a com- 
mon species. It has been known to nest in Maine, 
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It is seen more often in- 
land than on the coast, and has the same habits and 
rapid flight as the little black-head, from which it is 
distinguished by the ring more or less distinct about 
its neck. The ring-neck goes in small flocks and is 
probably more abundant in the Mississippi valley 
than elsewhere. It comes readily to the decoys. 
These three ducks may be shot from the same blind, 
over the same decoys, big or little. 

The scaups are fairly abundant on the bays or la- 
goons on the south side of Long Island, which are 
separated from the sea by long narrow beaches, fa- 
miliar to those who know the Atlantic Coast. Here 
they are still shot from the battery over large flocks 
of a hundred or more decoys. 

I began shooting scaups when a student at New 
Haven, and usually spent the spring vacations in their 
company, shooting with a market gunner who knew 
the bay and the ducks, and who owned a good battery 
and a large lot of well-painted decoys. 

Long before daybreak this fine old salt tapped on 
my door (I made his cabin my home) and announced 
that breakfast was ready, and the savory odor of the 
meal came with the light from his lantern through the 
crack beneath the door. Having breakfasted, we 
went out into the night, and embarking in his sail-boat, 
which carried the battery and decoys, we slipped 
quietly down the creek which led to the bay. We 
expected to beat his neighbor, another professional 



THE SCAUP-DUCKS 189 

gunner, to the best stand for the morning's shooting. 
As we went out on the bay we heard the thump, 
thump of an oar far away in the darkness, and my 
bayman said : " That's Lane going out — ahead of us. 
Perhaps he is rigged for geese," he added. Lane had 
a flock of live decoys. We, too, used our oar to aid 
the sail. Just before daybreak we reached the place 
determined upon, and found it unoccupied. The bat- 
tery was placed in the water, the decoys were arranged 
about it within close range, and my gunner sailed 
away to leave me lying below the surface of the bay in 
the box with its wide rim floating on the water. As 
the first light came in the east I could see the ducks, 
mostly scaups and red-heads, fiying swiftly across the 
dim gray light. Soon there was a rush of wings quite 
close to my head as a flock of black-heads swung in 
to the decoys. Sitting up I fired two barrels at the 
shadowy forms, but nothing struck the water, and the 
noisy whistling of wings was soon lost in the darkness. 

As the sun came up the ducks came rapidly, some- 
times one or two, more often a flock. I shot at every 
one, with but poor success. The cramped position, 
the hasty shot from a sitting position, were new to me 
and strange, and it was some time before I began to 
kill the ducks. 

A single bird coming head on was about to settle to 
the decoys, when I fired at him at close range, and he 
struck the water dead. Shortly afterward I made a 
double from a flock, and with growing confidence my 
shooting improved. I soon had a goodly lot of scaups 
showing black and white upon the waves as they 
drifted with the breeze. Meanwhile the bayman, who 



igo 



WILD-FOWL 



had been cruising far enough away not to alarm the 
ducks, approached and gathered in the slain. Stand- 
ing in close to the battery, he remarked that I was 
" learninV' and after explaining how I might attract a 
passing flock by putting one foot up and down quickly 
in the air, and giving other good advice, he sailed 
away to disturb a flock which was feeding on the 
bay. The flight was good for several hours, and 
then the birds stopped coming. The bayman came 
and took me from the box. We sailed away to eat 
our luncheon on the shore. The pipes were lighted, 
and basking in the sunlight on a dune, I listened to the 
stories of the sea and ducks. 

Much good advice was given. I did not lead the 
birds enough, he said. Shot too low at rising marks 
was too quick at the second pair, not quick enough 
at the passing flocks. The single bird was far too 
close and badly torn. One double was done in style. 
The morning's work had evidently been closely 
watched, and nothing had escaped the observation of 
my guide. When the birds began to fly again he 
asked if he should shoot a bit to show me how. The 
birds fared badly at his hands. He seldom missed a 
shot. Soon, with more advice, again he left me in the 
box. Birds came, I missed them as before. But some 
there were which came to stay, and at evening when 
the decoys were taken up the bag was pronounced a 
good one — some thirty birds or more, including the 
half-dozen shot by my instructor to show me how. 
The light in the tall white tower was reflected with 
the stars from the wavelets in the bay. We slipped 
along before the breeze. 



THE SCAUP-DUCKS 191 

A clam-chowder, a merganser-stew, which I shall 
refer to again, a roasted scaup, were all served steam- 
ing hot, and having dined I heard more stories of the 
sea and shore. Meantime the wind freshened to a 
gale and howled about the cabin, as it only can when 
passing over sea or plain. 

" The black-ducks will be in the bay to-morrow," said 
my host — " too rough for them outside. Red-heads 
and scaups will also move about. Will call you early 
— and good-night." 



XXIX 

THE GOLDEN-EYE AND OTHER SEA-DUCKS 

THE golden-eye, often called the whistler, is well 
known from the loud whistling noise made by 
the wings. It is a very handsome duck, but nowhere 
so common as many other varieties. Like most of the 
other ducks the whistler goes to the far North to nest 
and returns to the United States in the autumn, where 
it is widely distributed throughout the country. The 
golden-eye builds its nest in a hole in a tree, some- 
where near a lake or stream. There are usually six 
or eight eggs. It flies with great rapidity and goes 
through the branches like a ruffed-grouse. It does 
not come readily to decoys and more often not at all. 

The golden-eye is generally seen singly, in pairs, or 
in small flocks. 

About the coast the golden-eye feeds on shell-iish, 
and is therefore not very good to eat, but in the in- 
terior it feeds on grasses and roots and is better. It 
is often seen with the little broad-bill and the buiifle- 
head on bays and ponds and is a wonderful diver, 
going under usually before the shot reaches it. The 
game record of the Winous Point Club (Sandusky 
marshes) would indicate that it is there a rare bird. 
In years when there were thousands of ducks killed, 
the record shows but one or two of the golden-eye 
ducks and often none. I found a few of these birds 

192 



THE GOLDEN-EYE, ETC. 193 

on the grounds now owned by the English Lake Club 
on the Kankakee in Indiana, and once made a very 
good shot at one when mallard shooting. I heard the 
whistler coming from behind my back and well over- 
head. He was going so rapidly that I only had time 
to make a snap-shot at him, but he fell dead in the 
river. 

The Indians call it a spirit duck. On the Yukon 
they stuff the skin to make a toy for the children. 

The Indians of the Frazer valley tell a story of two 
men in one of their tribes who had a dispute as to 
how the whistler made the noise, one claiming it was 
produced by the wings, the other that it was vocal or 
made through the nostrils. Others joined in the con- 
troversy, which resulted in a majority of the warriors 
being killed without settling the question, Allan 
Brooks, quoted in "Birds that Hunt and are Hunted," 
is my authority for this story. 

Barrow's golden-eye is the Western variety of this 
bird, but they are so much alike in appearance and 
habits, as to be one and the same from the sportsman's 
point of view. 

THE BUFFLE-HEAD. 

The buffle-head is another duck which nests in trees 
and is an expert diver. It is one of the smallest of the 
ducks, being not much larger than the blue-wing teal. 
It flies rapidly and alights " by striking the water at 
an angle with a splash and sliding along on it." It is 
a cold-weather duck and remains in the United States 
until the water freezes over. I have shot a few of 



194 WILD-FOWL 

these ducks on the Ohio River, on the Kankakee and 
at other places in Indiana and always found their flesh 
palatable. Where mallards, spoon-bills, sprig-tails and 
other large, choice ducks are abundant the little but- 
ter-balls, as they are called, are often allowed to go 
unmolested. One day when shooting at English Lake, 
Indiana, we discovered a flock of seven of these birds 
feeding in a little bay, and as my punter moved the 
boat slowly toward them, they flew out in the direc- 
tion of the lake, passing at long range, and I brought 
down three with my first barrel and two with the 
second, much to the delight of my attendant. He had 
been celebrating the good shots by taking a drink 
from my flask, and as he seemed to think all of my 
shots worthy of notice the flask had been emptied, and 
he proceeded to do honor to this occasion by drinking 
five times from a stone jug of his own, which he had 
brought for an emergency, and he soon became quite 
hilarious. We were fortunately near the house, and I 
secured a punter with more ability and less enthu- 
siasm for the remaining days of my visit. 

The buffle-head is distinctly a North American spe- 
cies, and is found from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of 
Mexico, migrating like the other ducks in spring and 
fall. It is in some locations called the dipper, but this 
term is, I believe, more often applied to the hell-diver. 

THE RUDDY-DUCK. 

The ruddy-duck is the last of the sea-ducks which 
Is worthy of the sportsman's gun. It is a small duck, 
intermediate in size between the green-winged and the 



THE GOLDEN-EYE, ETC. 195 

cinnamon-teal. The green-win^^ is the smallest of all 
the ducks, its length being about fourteen and a half 
inches. The length of the ruddy-duck is sixteen 
inches, and that of the cinnamon-teal seventeen inches. 

The ruddy-duck is generally dispersed throughout 
North America and breeds throughout its range. 
There are often many eggs in a nest. One was found 
containing twenty, but Elliot says these must have 
been deposited by two females. 

Herbert Job recently found the ruddy-duck breeding 
in the same locality with the canvas-backs and red- 
heads in North Dakota, and procured photographs of 
the nests, one of which contained fifteen eggs. It 
seemed almost impossible, he says, in writing about 
this nest, that such a little bird as the ruddy-duck 
should have laid that pile of eggs several times its 
own weight in less than three weeks. 

It will not be long before all the ducks and geese 
cease to breed anywhere within the United States. 
Before it is too late the State of Dakota or the Na- 
tional Government should, as I have observed else- 
where, establish a park or refuge, to include some of 
the small lakes and sloughs where the wild fowl now 
nest. Such parks would be far more interesting than 
any zoological garden where beasts and birds are con- 
fined in ill-smelling cages, and where they too often 
present a picture of unhappiness. The results of such 
a park would be to keep the other lakes and streams 
of the State supplied with birds for many years, and 
would do much to save entire families of birds, which 
the eminent ornithologist Elliot and many others be- 
lieve will entirely vanish from the North American 



196 WILD-FOWL 

Continent. States like Ohio, which are vainly striv- 
ing to introduce the pheasants of China by means of 
expensive hatcheries, are blissfully unmindful of the 
fact that at less expense they might save their own 
water-fowl, birds of far more economic value, by State 
preserves to include the worthless marsh-lands and 
the great canal reservoirs. 

The ruddy-duck likes all waters, salt and fresh, and 
is still fairly abundant at times on the Chesapeake Bay 
and the Southern sounds, where it was neglected in 
favor of the big canvas-backs, red-heads, and scaups 
until recently when it became fashionable to eat rud- 
dy-ducks, and they now bring good prices in the mar- 
kets where it is legal to sell them. 

The ruddy has large feet and swims swiftly; is an 
expert diver and often sinks out of sight without div- 
ing, like the hell-diver. It swims about on the water 
with its tail elevated, and presents a ludicrous appear- 
ance which is unmistakable. It flies in good-sized 
flocks, very swiftly, like the teal, and comes to the de- 
coys with a rush, dropping into the water with a 
splash. The ruddy-ducks are often called boobies. 
On many of the bays they are shot from a line of 
skiffs which approach them and force them to fly 
out over or past them. The statute of North Caro- 
lina provides that it shall be unlawful to skiff or 
ring-shoot any boobies between November lo and 
February 15. 



XXX 

OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 

HAVING disposed of the desirable sea-ducks or 
divers, those which are good to eat, there remain 
a number of birds which are often taken by sportsmen 
in an arduous but picturesque manner from boats an- 
chored far out upon the sea. Since ducks fly best in 
stormy weather, this sport is attended with much hard- 
ship and often danger, and although I have tried it 
many times, it was always for the reason that there 
was nothing better within the limit of my time. The 
old-squaw, the coots, and the eiders are in the habit of 
remaining on the waves some distance from the shore, 
and since they are expert divers, it is almost impossible 
to get near them with a boat. As they arc moving 
about, however, they often follow certain lines of flight, 
and a number of sportsmen going out together, each 
in his own craft, form a line of boats over which the 
ducks must pass, or make a long detour to avoid so 
doing. The boats are placed so that a duck passing 
midway between two of them will be just within the 
range of both. 

This sport, as can well be imagined, calls for skilful 
shooting, since the anchored boats are tossed by the 
waves and the ducks are under full headway when 
they pass, and see the danger underneath. 

197 



igS WILD-FOWL 

Daniel Webster was fond of this sport, and was often 
seen in an open boat off the Massachusetts coast in 
the vicinity of his home at Marshfield, shooting in the 
line. 

A short distance from New Haven, to the east, quite 
near the town of Branford, Conn., there is a group of 
small islands in the sound. These are called the 
Thimble Islands, and on one of them there was, in the 
writer's college days, a tavern where sportsmen who 
desired to shoot coots and old-squaws were entertained. 
Here these ducks came in goodly numbers in the fall, 
and there were usually enough gunners present on this 
island to form a line of boats. Each had his number 
or place in the line, and those who shot from its outer 
end were often far from shore. 

Starting early in the morning of a stormy day, I 
pulled a heavy boat to my place far out upon the line, 
and soon the ducks began to come. I tried a shot at 
the first comers just as a large wave struck the boat, 
and came quite near going overboard. The shot 
went nowhere near the ducks, which were soon out of 
sight. Others came in quick succession, and at the 
hands of that best instructor, experience, I learned 
enough sometimes to bring one down. A wounded 
bird I found impossible to secure. Progress with the 
heavy boat was slow, and the birds were fast not only 
on the surface but below. Good shots were made by 
sportsmen in the neighboring boats: old hands who 
could preserve an even balance and often make a 
double. The exhibition of good shooting down the 
line was well worth coming far to see. 

Sometimes the waves increased, the wind ran high, 



OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 199 

and water came aboard the boats. A neighbor shouts: 
" We can't stand it much longer out here," and soon the 
anchors all are up ; the boats are pulling madly for the 
shore. Mountains of water with snowy crests of foam 
come rushing on and toss the heavy craft about. A 
mile an hour, perhaps, and then the boats pull one by 
one into more quiet water under shelter of the island. 
The gunners gather about the office stove to tell the 
stories of the day. 

As for the game, it certainly is not worth the work. It 
must be worth the fun. The birds have a strong sedgy 
or fishy taste which parboiling with onions will not re- 
move. They are, too, covered with heavy feathers which 
protect them from the shot, and make the preparation 
of them for the table arduous. Elliot says of one of these 
—the white-winged scoter: " Its feathers also, besides 
being strong and thick, seem as if they were inserted 
through the skin and clinched on the other side, and 
the labor of picking a few individuals of this coat is no 
joke, usually resulting in sore fingers." His reference 
to the flesh is that it is "abominable." 

Returning to New Haven from my first expedition 
to the Thimble Islands (entirely unaware of the riv- 
eted feathers and table qualities referred to), I pre- 
sented a few of these delicacies to a college professor 
who with his niece, a handsome and lovely girl, had 
placed me under many obligations by their kindness 
to a "freshman." The next time I called upon my 
friends I was thanked for the birds, but there was an 
absence of all enthusiasm in the thanks, and when I 
came to know the game, the wretched thought occurred 
to me that they had probably tried to eat the ducks 



200 WILD-FOWL 

without onions and had probably maimed or lost a 
valued servant-girl besides. 



THE SURF-SCOTER 

The surf-scoter is somewhat smaller than a mallard, 
being nineteen inches long. It is appropriately dressed 
in black and has a white spot, triangular in shape, on 
its forehead. Why nature has placed this ray of purity 
on the bird's head I never could imagine. Its disper- 
sion is general. Its dispossession is difficult. By this 
is meant it is hard to dispose of a second time to those 
who have tried it; and the same may be said of the 
other coots. 

This bird is often called "spectacled coot," "bay 
coot," and has other local names by which it may pos- 
sibly deceive the unwary. 

THE WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 

Another bird dressed entirely in black, excepting the 
speculum on the wing and a spot under the eyes, which 
are white. This bird is also known as the white-eye and 
white-winged coot, and has the same habits and tastes 
as the others. It is a well-known bird along the coasts 
and on inland lakes. Its range extends from the Arctic 
Sea to Florida and Mexico. 

THE AMERICAN SCOTER 

This bird is entirely black. It is widely distributed 
from the Arctic Ocean south to New Jersey, on the 



OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 201 

Eastern coast and to southern California on the Pacific 
side. The bird may be identified and avoided by the 
bill, which is bright orange on the basal half. It is 
often called black coot, whistling coot, and has other 
local names. 

THE VELVET SCOTER 

The velvet scoter is given in the check-list as an 
old-world bird, which has, fortunately, only been found 
on our shores a few times. Its general appearance is 
velvety black ; speculum white. 

THE OLD-SQUAW 

This bird is often called " Old South Southerly," 
from the supposed resemblance between the sounds it 
utters and those words. I am, however, not very good 
at discovering such resemblances, and I doubt if the 
average observer would call the bird by that name 
without instruction. There are, however, other in- 
stances of birds being named from their notes — the 
kill-deer plover and the Bob-white partridge are ex- 
amples of this style of nomenclature. This duck is also 
often called the long-tailed duck, from its long tail, but 
the latter term is more often applied to the fresh- 
water sprigtail duck. 

The old-squaw inhabits North America from the 
Arctic Sea south to the Ohio River; specimens have 
been seen farther south. I obtained one on the Kan- 
kakee, in Indiana. The old-squaw does not much fre- 
quent the western coast south of Alaska. Like the 
coots, this bird is fond of the sea, and is often seen in 



202 WILD-FOWL 

flocks off the shore. It is a swift flyer, expert diver, 
a fish eater, and a tough and undesirable bird for the 
table. The evolutions of this bird in the air are said 
to be beautiful in the spring-time, when the males 
chase the females about, and all dive from the air into 
the water, and come up again one after the other, 
there sometimes being a number of males in the chase. 
In summer the old-squaw is almost dirty black. 

THE HARLEQUIN DUCK 

This is a rare North American duck, so named from 
its fantastic markings. It is extremely rare, and of no 
importance to sportsmen. Even that industrious orni- 
thologist, Elliot, says he never saw one alive. 

THE EIDERS 

The eiders are noted for their down. They are all 
great divers, and subsist on food which gives them the 
fishy taste common to the coots. Lieutenant McConnell, 
of the revenue cutter Bear, in a magazine article, speaks 
of the eiderduck as "an excellent table bird." They may 
be to an arctic appetite, but such is not their reputation 
on our coasts. The varieties are known as the common 
eider; the American eider, which replaces the common 
eider on a large portion of the Atlantic Coast ; the king 
eider, and the Pacific eider. The Pacific eider is dis- 
tinctly an Alaskan bird. The king eider is also an 
arctic bird, but comes occasionally as far south as New 
Jersey ; but it is not abundant. The king eider is the 
largest of these birds, being almost an inch longer than 



OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 203 

the mallard. The spectacled eider is another Alaskan 
bird, and has never appeared south of that territory. 

Stellars duck, the last on the list of sea-ducks, is 
given as a straggler to our coasts, found only on the 
coasts of Behring Sea. 



XXXI 

RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 

MUCH that has been said about sea-duck shooting 
applies to the shooting of the shoal-water ducks 
or dabblers. These birds seldom frequent the salt bays 
and lagoons, and are nowhere as abundant in the salt 
marshes as they are in those where the wild-rice and 
fresh-water reeds and rushes grow. The river-ducks 
are shot from blinds on the shore, and in some places 
from batteries placed in the open water; but the bat- 
teries are more often used for sea-fowl, and, as I have 
observed, their use is in most places now prohibited. 
River-ducks are also shot from points or passes as they 
fly from one feeding-ground to another, in the same 
way that sea-ducks are taken. 

It is most important in connection with this method 
of capture to remember that the ducks have certain 
well-defined lines of flight, and that the sportsman's 
blind must be under one of these. Observe well what 
the ducks are doing on a given morning. The lines 
travelled are not always the same. The wind, the 
weather, or much shooting, may change the course, 
and an observant gunner will soon change his blind so 
as to be within range of the flight and not remain on a 
given pass simply because the ducks flew over it some 
other day. 

Jumping ducks, as it is termed is a favorite method 

204 



RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 205 

of capturing river-ducks, and since I prefer pursuit to 
ambush, I like this form of sport the best. 

In many of the fresh-water marshes there is suffi- 
cient water for the ducks to swim and for a light boat 
to move about through the tall reeds, rushes, and wild- 
rice. The sportsman having taken his place in the 
boat is pushed rapidly along by a punter, who propels 
the boat with a long pole. Many of the ducks which 
are scattered about in the reeds arise within range, and 
there is often opportunity for a double shot. The 
shots, I should say, from the moving boat, are more 
difficult than many of those from ambush over the 
decoys, but since the birds are rising from the water 
and are not under full headway when the gun is fired, 
the shots are less difficult than those at travelling 
ducks when the shooting is from points or passes. 
This method of pursuit reminds one of rail-shooting, 
and I have often shot both the large and the smaller 
rails when engaged in jumping ducks. 

Much here depends upon the punter. He should 
know well how to handle the boat, to send it swiftly 
through the reeds, to steady it for the shot ; and 
should be able to mark closely the dead and wounded 
birds. He should be familiar with the marshes, know 
where the boat can go, and where and when the ducks 
are most abundant. 

Such men I have shot with many days on the 
marshes of the Kankakee, and such there are at the 
duck clubs about Sandusky Bay, the St. Clair flats, 
and on the marshes about the Illinois, and in fact, 
everywhere I have been. Their services are of course 
greatly in demand at the duck clubs, where they 



2o6 WILD-FOWL 

receive good wages, and many of them are cmplo^'ed 
throughout the year. 

Sportsmen sometimes propel their own boats by 
means of a sculling-oar or pole, but few men can man- 
age a boat and shoot well at the same time. The Cal- 
ifornia market gunners use a light-draught skiff half 
decked over and covered with grass, so as to resem- 
ble closely the marsh. In this boat the gunners move 
quietly about and shoot the ducks asleep upon the 
mud-banks. 

Mr. Gumming says : " Long experience has taught 
these men that speed is a useful auxiliary to science 
in getting upon their watchful and cautious game, and 
they find it necessary to adopt novel methods of getting 
about, one of which is that of lying at full length upon 
their backs in the bottom of the boat, totall}^ concealed 
from outside view, while working a peculiarly bent 
oar in a greased scull-hole, that drives the blind-boat 
ahead quietly and rapidly. The whole outfit resem- 
bles a detached portion of the marsh floating naturally 
down with the tide. In this manner, before the State 
law was passed prohibiting the shooting of more than 
fifty birds in a day, the pot-hunters would each day, 
in season or out of season, fill their murderous ma- 
chines to the gunwales, thereby making such a glut in 
the markets that large quantities of fine fowl spoiled 
before they could be sold." 

At some of the clubs blinds are constructed on the 
open water by driving long poles or young trees into 
the muddy bottom in such shape as to form a blind 
which will hold a boat. This is open at one end or has 
a brush door, to permit the entrance of the boat, and 



RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 207 

here the shooter remains concealed until the birds 
come to his decoys. Such blinds are prohibited in 
some States, since they tend to drive the ducks from 
the feeding- grounds. 

Many laws have been passed within the past few 
years regulating this and other field sports and defin- 
ing the methods of capture ; these are amended from 
time to time, and the sportsman who goes to shoot in 
another State should ascertain the rules and regula- 
tions, since game laws in many States now mean 
something. 

River ducks are often shot, where they are abundant, 
by sportsmen who walk quietly along the banks of 
streams or sloughs and shoot the ducks as they arise 
from the water. In this way I began my duck-shoot- 
ing on the small rivers in Ohio, and I have since shot 
many dabbling ducks of all varieties from an Indian 
pony moving along the banks. I have also used the 
pony instead of the boat to jump the ducks in shallow 
lakes, and am inclined to think this rambling about on 
horseback and shooting from the saddle the best of 
all duck-shooting. 



T 



XXXII 

THE MALLARD 

HERE are in the check-list of the American 
-*- Ornithological Union fourteen shoal-water or 
dabbling ducks. It has been my good fortune to 
shoot them all, excepting one or two extra limital spe- 
cies, strays from the old world, which are included in 
the list of the ornithologists because they have been 
taken on our shores. These are of no importance, 
however, to the sportsman, since they are not common 
enough to furnish sport. They are often referred to 
as accidental visitors. 

I should be inclined to say that the mallard was 
the best river or fresh-water wild-duck in the world, 
if that honor did not belong to the little blue-wing 
teal. All fresh-water ducks are, however, excellent 
for the table and afford magnificent sport. So, like the 
ornithologist who describes one duck after another as 
the finest food, we are in danger of saying many of 
these so-called river-ducks are the best. In Dakota 
we used to have a mallard for dinner and a blue-wing 
teal for dessert. Perhaps it would be well to describe 
the mallard as the best all-around duck, the staple, as 
it were, and let the little blue-wing keep the place 
accorded to it as something special, just a trifle better 
if that were possible than the best. Comparing the 

208 



THE MALLARD 209 

flesh of the mallard and the teal, it may be said that 
the mallard is so fine that one sometimes wonders if 
the blue-wing can possibly be better. 

The behavior of the two birds in the field is equally 
good, they both come nicely to the decoys, both fly 
swiftly and test the skill of the sportsman. The mal- 
lard is a larger and somewhat easier mark. The teal 
is one of the most difficult marks in feathers. I have 
had occasion to carry a large lot of mallards, when the 
wagon or ambulance did not find me in the marsh or 
when the boat was necessarily left a long distance 
from the bhnd, and, to say the least, the transportation 
was laborious. The reader will find a reference to the 
portable character of the teal in the chapter on those 
splendid birds. 

The mallard is immediately identified, when we say 
he is the green-headed duck of the barn-yards. The 
latter are descended from the mallards, and in Eng- 
land the mallards are often referred to as the stock- 
ducks. The wild bird is, of course, far more beautiful. 
His colors are brighter and he is alert and graceful on 
the water and can fly swiftly through the air, even in 
the timber. 

The mallard is distributed throughout the northern 
portion of both hemispheres, and seems entirely to have 
escaped the ornithological variety makers. There are 
thus no fractional species, the (a), (b), and (c) of the 
ornithologists. The mallard, however, has shown some 
ambition to create a new species or perhaps to puzzle 
his ornithological biographers, as he did Audubon, by 
an occasional intimacy with other fresh-water ducks, 
which have resulted in some hybrid birds of most 



2IO WILD-FOWL 

siiii^uhir appearance. 1 have seen (jiic of these with a 
mallard's head and the long tail (jf the sprig-tail duck, 
and otheis have been discovered. 

The mallard is a line, large duck, twenty-two inches 
in length, both sexes being the same size. It is by far 
the most abundant of all the water-fowl, and wiien the 
sportsman goes to shoot ducks on fresh-water they 
are usually mallards, the other varieties being more 
often accessories to a day's mallard shooting. 

The majority of these birds, like the other water- 
fowl, go north to nest, but many lemain in the United 
States, and were the spring shooting })rohibited and 
the parks or refuges which 1 have so often urged 
established, enough of these beautiful fowl would be 
saved to preserve the race, and the overflow to the 
open streams and lakes, and especially to the properly 
regulated shooting j)reserves of the country, would 
continue to furnish sport and food for all time to 
come. 

Herbert Job found the mallards breeding in North 
Dakota in June, and secured an excellent photograph 
of the nest. I saw many young mallards on the ponds 
and small lakes in the Devil's Lake region of that 
State, which were unable to fly in August and must of 
course have been bred there. On the reservation of 
the Cut Head Sioux there are hundreds of small lakes, 
and the Cheyenne River, like a big winding slough, 
forms its southern boundary. Here is one of the best 
places in the country for a refuge for the ducks, and 
where the experiment of so preserving them might be 
tried at small expense. 

I found the mallards tremendously abiuidant in the 



THE MALLARD 211 

marshes about the Kankakee, and used to shoot them 
there, going out Irom George Green's, alamous resort 
on English Lake. These grounds are now owned by 
the Englisli Lake Club, composed largely of Chicago 
gentlemen. Upon my first visit to English Lake, I 
shot many mallards, but did not do so well as others, 
since I wandered far and wide, cruising with a punter 
through the drowned forests, and out into the sloughs 
and ponds of the vast marshes of wild-rice, and often 
when in the blind the mallards got the l)est of me, 
sailing swiftly by while I sat and gazed upon the 
wondrous beauties of the scene. Withcjut much diffi- 
culty, however, I could easily put several dozen mal- 
lards in the boat, and wood-duck, teal, red-heads, 
spoon-bills, and all the other ducks often contributed 
to the bag. The day of my arrival, Colonel Harris, a 
well-known sportsman from Cincinnati, came in with 
over fifty mallards in his boat, and next day did as 
well. Other boats, with men I did not know, came 
loaded to the guards and some would barely float. 
One day, as we entered the great north marsh, our 
coming disturbed the ducks and there must have been 
millions of mallards in the air. The whole great 
marsh seemed to rise up with a roar and the water 
dropping from the ducks looked like heavy rain. The 
sun shone brightly on the sea of emerald heads, so 
numerous as to almost obscure the sk}', and 1 sat dum- 
founded and amazed. 

"Shoot, man! Shoot!" the punter cried, and, when 
I fired, a single green-head climbed higher at the first 
discharge and at the second shot came down. The 
wary birds all went off and settled in some ponds 



212 WILD-FOWL 

where the punter said they were safe from harm by 
reason of the deep mud and shallow water. 

Thousands of mallards are killed each j^ear on the 
marshes about the Illinois River, and in the Southern 
swamps. They are still extremely abundant at times 
in the ponds of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas, 
and in the tule marshes of California, but any one 
who observes these birds at all will notice the rapid 
diminution year by year. I know of places where I 
used to have good shooting where the appearance of 
a single duck to-day would cause surprise. An army 
of guns would no doubt at once take the field to 
circumvent it. 

The records at the Lake Erie group of clubs show 
that the mallards have always been the most common 
variety, excepting possibly the teal and the canvas- 
back. The record of the Winous Point Club shows : 

Canvas-backs. Mallards. Blue-Wing Teal. 

1880 665 1.1319 2,110 

1885 237 943 1,019 

1890 697 394 603 

1895 72 218 21 

1900 I 232 O 

The score for 1900 is unimportant, since the Ohio 
Legislature (influenced it has been said by the irate 
gunners who object to the exclusive game preserve) 
passed a law prohibiting the shooting of all ducks 
until November loth. The marshes were frozen over 
two days later, when the ducks all left, except the 
blue-wing teal, and these, of course, had gone a month 
or more before. 



THE MALLARD 213 

Mr. Thompson, of Oregon, in a recent article in 
Outings says: "The mallard {Anas boschas) is per- 
haps the favorite of all duck-hunters in the far West 
as well as elsewhere. It sometimes nests along the 
Columbia, though ordinarily it goes farther north. 
Like the teal it has its favorite feeding haunts morning 
and evening, and its favorite resting places, usually 
during the middle of the day, in the middle of some 
large slough far out of range. To some extent, how- 
ever, its movements can be controlled by feeding." 

The most familiar method of shooting mallards is 
over decoys. The best places are shallow, muddy, 
and somewhat inaccessible ponds in the vast marshes 
of wild-rice. Mr. Denny, of Pittsburgh, recently had 
little difficulty in making a bag of one hundred and 
four mallards in such a pond, "the little mud hole," 
on the preserve of the Ottawa Club in Northern Ohio. 
The bag was made during the morning flight. 

Upon approaching the place where the decoys are 
to be set out, the ducks which are feeding in the pond 
will all fly out. The sportsman of experience will not 
shoot them then, no matter how tempting the shot 
may be. He knows that ducks can reason well and 
that if they are shot at as they depart, they will be 
less inclined to return again, and a shot at such a time 
is a notice of the danger to all the ducks which have 
been feeding in the pond or slough. 

After all the ducks have gone without unnecessary 
alarm, the decoys are quickly placed, usually before a 
blind already made, and at the club preserves at places 
where the ducks have been baited with corn and wheat 
by the gamekeepers long before the season opens. 



214 WILD-FOWL 

Soon the mallards, under the impression that their 
alarm was false, begin to return singly or in pairs, 
often in good-sized flocks, and as they come the eager 
birds, seeing the well-made counterfeits on the water, 
sail over the pond head up to the wind, and spreading 
out their tails to break their speed, drop with flapping 
wings to the water below. As they settle down within 
easy range they are not hard to hit, but at the shot 
mallards "climb" rapidly, and the novice must remem- 
ber to shoot high and forward if he would bring them 
down. It is an exciting moment when a flock of these 
large green-heads comes with a rush of wings to settle 
before the blind. The good shot will take them as 
they come and go, and not shoot them on the water. 
At times some travelling, or trading, birds will test the 
skill of the sportsman far more than those which notice 
the decoys. That talented English writer, Stuart- 
Wortley, says he once fired aiming the length of a 
church ahead of passing flock to see the hindmost one 
fall dead. 

Mallards are very fond of acorns, and in the over- 
flow fine shooting is often had about the Western 
rivers in the woods. I have shot them among the oaks 
from a boat concealed by brush and branches, and 
have jumped them on a cruise about the marshes and 
the sloughs. 

When the birds resort to the open water for their 
noon-time siesta they should not be disturbed. Bat- 
teries are sometimes anchored on such grounds and 
on feeding grounds as well, but their use is most 
destructive and will drive the unslain birds away. 

Robert Roosevelt said some years ago: " In station- 



THE MALLARD 215 

ing a battery, that imitation coffin — which should be a 
veritable one, if justice had its wa}^ to every man who 
enters it — and in lying prone in it through the cold 
days of winter, the market-man may find his pecuniary 
profit, but the gentleman can receive no pleasure; 
while the permanent injury inflicted by driving away 
the ducks from their feeding grounds and making them 
timorous of stopping at all in waters from any and all 
portions of which unforeseen foes may arise, is ten 
times as great as the temporary advantage gained ; and 
as for calling that sport which is merely the wearisome 
endurance of cold and tedium to obtain game that 
might be killed more handsomely, and in the long run 
more abundantly by other methods, is an entire mis- 
application of the word." 

In shooting mallards a dog is quite necessary — a re- 
triever of course. The water-spaniel, or the Chesa- 
peake Bay dogs, are the best. A wounded mallard 
will, without a dog, most often escape by skulking 
and hiding in the grass. A good retriever should lie 
down in the boat or blind and remain motionless un- 
til ordered to retrieve. I have often observed the 
bright e3'e of one of these intelligent animals observ- 
ing ducks when they were far away and before I had 
discovered them. They take great delight in the 
sport and endure much hardship and are deserving of 
the best of care ; a dog-coat or blanket when the day 
is done, another to lie upon when they come in from 
the freezing Avater. 

Their fine noses enable them to follow and secure 
the birds which hide in the grass. They swim rapidly 
and overtake the wounded on the open water. They 



2i6 WILD-FOWL 

are something of a nuisance as they come dripping 
wet into a boat and proceed to shake the icy water all 
over one, but it has been well said it is unreasonable 
to ask the " devoted but shivering creature that he 
should remain standing in the freezing water or upon 
the damp sedge." 

The mallards have been reported as very abundant 
in California within the past year or two. In a San 
Francisco paper it was stated that the farmers in 
Glenn County were employing men to herd them off 
their sprouting grain, and were slaughtering vast num- 
bers of the birds, which were allowed to stay on the 
ground where they fell. Such abundance will be of 
short duration, however, if historv repeats itself, as on 
this point it always has. 

The sportsman who goes to shoot mallards (and the 
other ducks as well) must make an early start. He is 
often on the ground at the break of day. There is 
compensation always for early rising in the scene. 
The gorgeous panorama which attends the change 
from star-lit night to the broad light of day is best 
seen in the marshes and at sea. 

The sleepy-heads who linger in the town are un- 
aware of the pictures which the mallard shooter sees. 
These are always charming, ever new, sometimes sim- 
ple, but often sublime. The weather effects which a 
painter knows are seen best in the vast marshes where 
the mallards dwell. 

The attendant will conduct the sportsman to the 
most likely places, but I have often enjoyed the trip 
alone or in company with a friend who also punted his 
own boat and set his own decoys. I have thoroughly 



THE MALLARD 217 

enjoyed a trip about the marshes, wandering here and 
there through the innumerable water streets and lanes 
before the season opened and without a gun. Last 
season, while I was sketching in the marshes of the 
Ottawa preserve, the mallards were quite tame. At 
one little pond a punter preceded me and scattered 
the corn for their daily meal, and shortly after he had 
gone the ducks began to return. I had an excellent 
opportunity to study them and figure out imaginary 
shots. First came a wary black- or dusky-duck, over- 
eager for the well-known bait. With a rush of wings 
he barely missed my head and dropped into the pond. 
There he sat immovable, with his head held high, 
looking, listening, determined to detect a danger if 
any should be there. I was but partially concealed, 
but the corduroy was well in tone with the faded flags 
and reeds and I remained as motionless as the wary 
duck but a few feet away. Soon his partners came, a 
little band followed by the mallards singly, in small 
companies and in flocks, all circling once about and 
heading to the wind. When at full speed down went 
the brakes, their widely spreading tails, and tipping 
sideways, flapping, they dropped into the pond. All, 
like the black-duck, sat "attention" and I dared not 
wink an eye. The tempting grain was all about, and 
at last the ducks did the preening which seems neces- 
sary to precede the meal and soon were rapidly devour- 
ing the grain. A friend at another pond had cameras 
instead of guns, and when we met at night he had thor- 
oughly enjoyed the day. A hawk had pounced upon 
one of his decoys, and sinking his talons well into the 
wood had carried it a long way off. A snap-shot told 



2i8 WILD-FOWL 

the talc. I was convinced by my experience of that 
day that the entire absence of motion in tiie shooter 
was more important than perfect conccahnent. After 
I had observed the ducks for a long time (they were 
very near) I made the slightest movement of one hand, 
when with loud quacks they all sprang into the air 
and in an instant were out of sight. 

Upon one occasion, when shooting with the Indian 
agent at the Cut Head Sioux agency, we found the 
mallards at evening flying from one small lake to an- 
other, and just as the sim went down we began to 
shoot. It was a cloudy evening, and the sun set red 
behind large blue-black masses of cloud, so that it was 
too dark to shoot shortly after the sun disappeared. 
After a dozen or more shots a tight shell stojipcd 
my shooting for a time, but we recovered in the dark 
some thirty mallards, which, however, by no means 
represented the number slain. The birds flew swiftly, 
and at times 1 believe an expert ball player could have 
done well with a bat. 

Mallards in the West often resort to the corn-fields, 
and they may be shot on a pass as they travel into and 
out of the fields, but the better way is to seek the pond 
in the corn-fields, or puddle of water they are using 
and shoot them over the decoys. 

I have shot mallards from horseback, riding along 
the banks of a Western stream, and jumping them from 
the water and the grouse from the shore. I have shot 
them in the shallow Western lakes, by wading just out- 
side the tall band of sedge which grew about the shore. 
I have shot them from a boat and pass, but the most 
mallards will be secured when shooting over decoys. 



THE MALLARD 219 

A duck-call is often used, which may be purchased 
in the stores. The punter will often better imitate the 
quack. A good call will aid to bring the wild birds 
down. A bad one, however, is worse than none. 

I once bought one which proved a fine source of 
amusement, but not of profit. At every quack the 
ducks jumped a thousand feet or more straight up 
into the air. 

I used occasionally to spring it on a friend to see if 
I could improve his shooting. 



XXXIII 
THE DUSKY DUCKS 

■^ I ^HE dusky duck, or black-duck, often called black- 
*- mallard in the West, the Canard noir of Louisi- 
ana, is found throughout Eastern North America 
from Labrador to Florida, where it is replaced by a 
similar bird called by the ornithologists the mottled- 
duck. These birds are so much alike that the differ- 
ence may be regarded as local or climatic, and for the 
sportsman they are one and the same. One who 
shoots in Florida may notice that the mottled-duck 
differs from his dusky relation in having the cheeks 
streaked with brown instead of being plain buff, and 
the speculum or spot of metallic color on the wings is 
said to be purple instead of green. As already ob- 
served, however, these metallic colors are often inter- 
changeable in different lights, and unless the sports- 
man's attention was specially called to them he would 
not notice the differences. 

The black-duck closely resembles the mallard in its 
habits, and the quack of the one might be mistaken for 
that of the other. The quack of the green-head of the 
barn-yard is the quack of the mallard and dusky duck, 
and the tame ducks make excellent decoys. The 
dusky ducks are quite common in the Mississippi 
River valle}', and are said to breed from Maine to 
Texas. I savtr a fine flock in captivity not long ago 

220 



THE DUSKY DUCKS 221 

which were captured by the barber at the Star Island 
hotel on the St. Clair flats, and the birds, though full- 
grown, were quite tame and not alarmed at my 
approach. There are usually eight or ten eggs. I 
have shot the black-ducks on the Atlantic Coast, and 
as far west as Wisconsin. I often killed a few of them 
when mallard shooting on the marshes about the 
Kankakee in Indiana. 

Their flight is rapid, very similar to that of the 
mallard, and the quickly repeated wing beats are the 
same. 

I learned two lessons shooting at these swiftly flying 
marks. Two travelling birds, one flying several yards 
behind the other, passed my boat on the open water of 
Fox Lake, and shooting well ahead of the leading bird 
1 saw his mate fall dead. My second lesson occurred 
a moment later when I went head foremost into the icy 
waters of the lake. The light duck-boat was drifting 
gently with the breeze. I stood up to load a muzzle- 
loading gun. A tuft of grass, or other small obstruc- 
tion, stopped the treacherous craft, it tipped a time or 
two and I was out. I tried several times to get in over 
the side and as often filled the little boat with water, 
and had to bail it out, but finally climbed the end and 
was quickly at the oars. My friend, whose gun was 
booming a mile away, fortunately had the proper 
remedy for cold, and leaving him I pulled strongly for 
the shore. Before the club-house fire I soon was 
warm again, and ready to return to the shooting. 
Great care is necessary in standing in frail boats. 

The flesh of the black mallard is usually not so good 
as that of the other river-ducks. The duck does not 



222 WILD-FOWL 

come as readily to the decoys. It is a wild and wary 
bird, one of the most suspicious of all the water-fowl, 
always on the look-out for an enemy and said to have 
a keen scent which warns it from the danger lurking 
in the blind. If ducks detect an enemy by means 
of the sense of smell, smoking in the blinds should be 
given up. The dusky duck may be said to resemble 
the female mallard, but is darker. 

Black-ducks are somewhat nocturnal in their habits, 
and often when disturbed in the morning fly far out on 
the open water, where they spend the day and return 
again at night to feed. 

One evening, after an unsuccessful day with the 
scaups and red-heads, my bayman at Shinnecock asked 
if I would remain out on the beach at night and shoot 
the black-ducks as they came in to feed. The bay had 
been full of them in the morning, but they all took 
wing when far out of range and retired to the ocean. 
The moon was full. As it arose it seemed light enough 
to shoot by. We sailed away for the outer beach and 
concealed ourselves without difficulty. Shortly the 
ducks began to come. We heard the nasal quack — 
quack — quack at intervals as they flew in from the 
ocean long before we could see them. As they passed 
swiftly over the beach they were in sight for a moment 
and again disappeared in the half-light on the bay. 
The shooting was extremely difficult. I could only 
see the birds as they passed between me and the moon. 
After several misses a snap-shot caught a single bird 
just as he passed en silhouette before the silver orb, 
and down he fell upon the beach. A few more birds 
were shot, but many shells were wasted in the dark. 



THE DUSKY DUCKS 223 

And then the bayman came witli a heavy bunch of 
clucks which lie had shot. It was i^ctting late. We 
sailed away. 

Night shooting is now prohibited by law in many 
States, as it should be. The temptation, however, is 
great, I must admit, to shoot at these birds after dark, 
when they fly away early in the morning, arising out 
of range, and do not return until after sundown. Mr. 
Tallett, however, President of the Jefferson County 
(N. Y.) Sportsman's Association, referring to the fact 
that some sportsmen still contend that night is the 
proper time to shoot black-ducks, asserting that they 
are night feeders and can only be shot successfully at 
that time, says : " M}^ experience has been that in no 
way can the black-duck be driven from a favorite feed- 
ing-place quicker than by night shooting, and I believe 
that if night shooting were allowed in this county a 
large part of the birds we now have would be driven 
away." Mr. Tallett further says: " Upon the stopping 
of the spring shooting in this county the black-ducks 
remained to breed, and those sportsmen who know the 
habits of the black-duck and its extreme wariness can 
judge of the number we have when I say that during 
the first week over one hundred and fifty black-ducks 
were killed, and all were killed in broad daylight, as 
the shooting after sunset is prohibited in this county." 

Mr. Tallett, referring to spring shooting, says: 
" This letter is not written for the purpose of induc- 
ing the rest of the State to stop the spring shooting 
of wild-fowl. It is a matter of indifference to us. If 
you do not want the birds, drive them up here. We 
know a i^ood thin": when we have it." 



224 WILD-FOWL 

Black-ducks have begun to breed in large numbers 
on the grounds of two of the Currituck clubs which 
prohibit shooting after January 25th, and the editor of 
Oiituig has well said : " It lies in the power of these 
wealthy organizations to do vast good and go far tow- 
ard repairing the harm done by negligent legislatures 
and recreant executives." 



XXXIV 

THE TEAL 

THE teal are the smallest of the wild-fowl. There 
are three varieties common to North America — 
the blue-winged teal, the green-winged teal, and the 
cinnamon-teal, all named from their color-markings, 
the two former from the wings, the latter from the 
prevailing color of the bird, which is a rich brown or 
cinnamon. They are all very handsome on the water 
and remarkably graceful in the air. They fly with 
great rapidity, usually in flocks, and as they all wheel 
together their color-markings show brightly in the 
sun. They are all splendid table-birds, and the blue- 
wing, as I have observed, is superior to the far-famed 
canvas-back. 

We are inclined, however, to enthusiastic praise of 
that which pleases at the time. On one occasion, when 
shooting with some officers of the army, it turned very 
cold and began to snow early in the afternoon, and, 
since the ducks were not flying well, I left my blind 
without waiting for the ambulance which came out 
each evening to transport us to the camp. Upon my 
arrival there I found that the post surgeon had pre- 
ceded me, and was cooking a green-wing teal, which 
was extremely fat from feeding on wild-rice. He in- 
sisted upon my eating it, and proceeded to prepare 

225 



226 WILI)-1"()WL 

;iii()tlH'r for liimsclf. The bird was cooked lo pcrlcc- 
tioii, iiiul I liad no hesitation in pronouncin*;- it the 
best dnck I ever ale. The blue-wing, however, never 
has the sedjj^e-taste which the green-winj^ has some- 
times, and may tairly be regarded as the best cUick 
that Hies. 

A distinj^uislied ornithoK)gical writer in a lecent 
work thus said : " 1 know ol no better bird for the 
tabic- than a l)lue-wini;ed teal fattened upon wihi-rice." 
But in the same l)0()k, speakin*; of tlie eanvas-l)ack, 
he says: " There is no duck save, perhaps, the red- 
head, tliat can ecpial this splendid species in the del- 
icate cpuility of its flesh." And aj^ain : " The Hesh of 
the red-head, when it has l)cen feedini; upon wild 
celery and such dainty food, for tenderness and flavor 
is excelled by no other duck." 

Althouj^h somewhat conHicting, we find here high 
praise for all. 

The blue-wings and green-wings are found from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, the former more abun- 
dant in the Rastern and Central States, and especially 
so in the Mississipi)i valley. The cinnamon-teal is dis- 
tinctly a Western bird, although it has been known to 
go as far eastward as IHorida. Such occurrences, as 
Elliot says, are rare and are to be regarded in the 
same light as would be the appearance of some Euro- 
pean sjK'cies. The blue-winged teal are among the 
first ducks to arrive from the North, and usually come 
to the Northern States as early as Sej^tember. They 
do not like the cold, and are among the first to leave 
for the South. Many of the teal remain to nest in the 
marshes of the Northern States wdienevcr they are not 



THE TEAL 227 

too much persecuted. In the South, upon the club 
preserves at Currituck, where spring shooting has 
recentl)' been stopped, Mr. Whitney, of Outing, says 
teal have begun to breed in large numbers. A special 
law prohibiting spring shooting in Jefferson County, 
New York, was followed by the same result. These 
facts sufficiently demonstrate the benefits to be de- 
rived from club rules and State laws prohibiting the 
shooting of wild-fowl in the spring. Not only teal 
but wood-ducks, mallard, and dusky ducks nested in 
Jefferson County. 

I have always regarded the teal as among the best 
of all the game birds. They fly with wonderful rapid- 
ity, present most difficult marks, and are more easily 
transported than the larger birds. 

I have had fine sport with teal on many marshes, 
have shot them over decoys, jumped them in the wild- 
rice, shot them when flying over points or passes, 
followed them along the banks of many rivers and 
prairie sloughs, both on foot and in the saddle, and 
have made large bags by riding an Indian pony through 
the tall reeds and rushes of Western lakes and ponds. 

Several birds are often killed at a shot, since teal fly 
quite close together and often " bunch " when the 
sportsman rises from his ambush. Upon one occa- 
sion, when on the march with an army outfit in the 
valley of the Tongue River, Montana, I dropped 
behind the command and followed the windings of the 
stream, in the hope of shooting a few ducks for din- 
ner. While fording the stream my pony stopped to 
drink just as he entered it and a large flock of teal 
soon appeared flying some thirty feet above the water. 



228 WILD-FOWL 

Remaining absolutely motionless until the birds were 
directly opposite, I quickly raised the gun, and as the 
birds crowded closely together fired and brought 
down seven with my two barrels. This was my only 
shot that afternoon, and when I reached our camp the 
captain said he had heard my gun, and asked if I had 
his duck for dinner. I promptly produced a teal from 
the pocket of my coat, and as the others of our mess 
(there were six in all) came up, I presented a teal to 
each, taking one at a time from my coat, much to their 
amusement and satisfaction, since we had for several 
days been dining on venison and bacon. 

I doubt if I could have done as well with any other 
ducks except the other teal, and am sure I could not 
have carried them in the pocket of my coat. Like 
other ducks the teal are easier marks when shot over 
decoys, but when under full headway, passing singly 
or in small numbers over points, I can imagine no 
marks more difficult. The sportsman accustomed to 
shooting over dogs will miss many shots at teal before 
he bags a single bird. 

After some days' shooting at the sharp-tailed grouse, 
I went one day to a famous duck-pass in North 
Dakota, when the teal were flying from the Devil's 
Lake to a smaller one to breakfast. As soon as I had 
made my blind, they began to come singly and in 
pairs, sometimes three or four together or a small 
flock, and although they came in quick succession and 
the shooting was fast enough to heat the gun, I be- 
lieve it was an hour or more before I killed a bird. I 
was almost in despair, when 1 fired at a passing flock, 
holding the gun a yard or more before the leading 



THE TEAL 229 

birds, and at the report a single teal, some distance 
behind the others, fell dead upon the beach. I at 
once began shooting long distances ahead of the pass- 
ing ducks, and before long I had a large bag of birds. 

A few days afterward an officer from the garrison 
nearby, a good shot in the upland fields and woods, 
went with me to my duck-pass to shoot at teal. We 
made our blinds some two gun-shots apart and soon 
began to shoot. The birds came rapidly as before, and 
my friend gave them two barrels as they passed, but 
was entirely out of ammunition before he killed a bird. 
His orderly came to my blind for shells, and with them 
I sent a message to shoot three times as far ahead as 
he had been doing, and he soon was killing birds. 

One morning, when shooting larger ducks, three 
green-wing teal passed my blind, flying just above the 
water, all in a row a yard or more apart. Aiming 
well ahead of the leading bird I saw my shot strike 
the water well behind the last, and of course they all 
escaped. 

Teal spring from the ground or water with great 
rapidity and it is easy to miss them as they rise. I 
once saw a blue-wing on a small stream in Ohio, which 
was being chased about on the water by a flock of 
tame ducks, who scolded him and annoyed him until 
he finally went ashore on a mud bar at the lower end 
of a small island, overgrown with willows and much 
underbrush. Letting my boat drift until I made a 
landing at the upper end of the island, I quietly 
stalked the teal until within easy range, and after 
observing him for a time, stepped out from the cover 
of the trees, when he sprang into the air and I missed 



230 WILD-FOWL 

him with both barrels, shootiii*; no doubt far under 
him. 

I found the cinnamon-teal feedinj^ with «^reat num- 
bers of the u^rcen-win^s on the Dakota ponds, and one 
small lake was always vSo full of teal that there was 
liaidly room foi" more. 1 had read of many of these 
birds bcins;- killed at a sinp^le shot, and havin<; noticed 
thai the birds which used this pond when disturbed 
always went out over the same place on the beach, 
made arrangements to take my place quietly before 
daylii^ht, where the birds would pass overhead, to sec 
if I could make a record shot. My l)rother, with a 
repeating gu'i, approached the pond on the other side, 
aiul as soon as it was light enough to sec opened fire 
on the immense flock, which arose from the water with 
a noise like a i>assing train and headed for my blind. 
Before the birds came in range, however, they all 
wheeled to the right and j>assed out over the beach 
far below me. I was perfectly concealed, but the teal 
no doubt had heard me when I went to my blind and 
were too wary to i)ass over me. Two gad walls fol- 
lowing on behind, took the usual course, and on these 
I made a double. My brother with his five shots took 
heavy toll from the flock. 1 have forgotten now just 
how many birds, but among the number was the hand- 
some cinnamon. One day I foimd the teal and mal- 
lards feeding in a reedy pcMul quite near the Yellow- 
stone, and riding about on the shallow water I shot 
them from the saddle. The birds were very tame and 
often ilew but a short distance out over the prairie, 
and returned again to feed. The shooting was quite 
rapid, the shots were easy and 1 soon had a fine bag. 



THE TEAL 231 

A soldier acted as my retriever. He had removed his 
shoes and was wading about leading liis pony and 
picking up the birds, when we discovered some liorse- 
men on a distant hill, evidently observing us. Think- 
ing they were Indians, we stopped the shooting and 
beat a hasty retreat for camp. I shall never forget the 
appearance of the orderly with his ducks and his shoes 
in his hands as we galloped across the plain. It was 
a false alarm, however. The men were some of our 
own troopers who had gone out to shoot at larger 
game. It was too late, however, when we learned this 
to return to the ducks, and early next morning wc 
moved our camp. 

The green-wing teal are far more abundant on the 
Pacific Coast than the blue-wings. They come later 
and remain longer. 

Mr. Thompson, writing of this sport in Oregon, says: 
"If teal are abundant and 'come' just right even an 
old canvas-back shooter after a good morning's sport 
at these small and beautiful birds, is almost ready to 
declare that there can be no finer sport. Of course, 
each season will not bring them in the same numbers, 
nor are they found everywhere. They seem to favor 
one locality more than another. Usually, however, it 
is possible with care and judicious feeding to draw 
them to a given point; at times they are very abundant, 
recalling the stories of years past in the waters of the 
South. At one small lake, one of the best places along 
the river for this kind of ducks, four hunters in one 
day, shooting morning and evening, made a record of 
more than four hundred of these birds. These were 
all killed on the wing." 



232 WILD-FOWL 

The blue-wing teal are more common on the 
marshes of the Middle States, I believe, as far west 
as Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa. On the Sandusky 
marshes in Ohio, a club record shows each year more 
blue-wings are killed than green. In 1881, the totals 
for the season were blue-wings, 1,646, green- wings, 
441; in 1885, blue-wings, 1,019, green-wings, 506; in 
1890, blue-wings, 603, green-wings, 373; in 1895, blue- 
wings, 21, green-wings, 99; in 1899, blue-wings, 255, 
green-wings, 184. In Dakota and on the Pacific Coast 
these figures would be reversed. 

Much that has been said as to the method of capture 
of the other ducks applies as well to teal. They come 
well to decoys, and they are shot in the same way 
over points. They are jumped in the wild rice and 
shot from a moving boat. 

In the winter thousands of teal are shot in the rice- 
fields in the South, and they are probably nowhere 
more abundant than in Louisiana and Texas. Another 
teal, the European teal, is given in the check-list. This 
bird is, however, only an occasional visitor to our East- 
ern shores, and is seldom shot by sportsmen. 



XXXV 

THE WOOD-DUCK 

THE wood-duck is the most beautiful duck in the 
world. Some years ago, in a magazine article, 
I expressed the opinion that this bird was more beau- 
tiful than the mandarin duck of China, and in Elliot's 
recent popular ornithological work this opinion is sus- 
tained. 

In size the wood-duck is intermediate between the 
mallard and teal. Its head is dark green, reflecting 
purple and blue, and effectively marked with white 
lines. Its back is dark brown, the wing coverts are 
blue. Its breast a rich chestnut, dotted with white 
arrow-shaped marks. It has a handsome crest, and 
Linnasus well named it the bride {Spotisa). It has been 
suggested, however, that it is the groom that is beau- 
tiful. The female, as in most water-fowl, is not so 
handsome. 

The wood-duck is known in many localities as the 
summer duck, since it remains and breeds in many of 
the States, and the migratory birds return first of all to 
the northern parts of the United States, where the 
shooting is best in August and September. It is 
desisfnated also as the acorn duck, from its well- 
known fondness for acorns. 

The flight of the wood-duck is swift and graceful, 

233 



i234 WILD-FOWL 

and it goes through the trees with the speed and safety 
of the wood-grouse. 

The summer ducks arc found from Hudson's Bay to 
the Gulf, and are abundant in the Mississippi valley ; 
but they are vanishing more rapidly than any of the 
other ducks in all parts of their range. I have referred 
to the bulletin of the Agricultural Department which 
predicts their extermination. 

They were some years ago extremely abundant in 
September on the Sandusky marshes in Ohio, and 
about the Kankakee in Indiana, and the Illinois River 
in Illinois. I have often shot them over decoys and 
jumped them in the wild-rice. The game register at 
the Winous Point Club, near Sandusky, shows that 
hundreds of wood-ducks were killed formerly each 
season on that preserve, but the average for the past 
ten years has hardly been more than fifty birds per 
annum. I was informed that within the past year or 
two the wood-ducks were somewhat more abundant 
than they were five years ago, but the register does 
not show much of an increase. 

At English Lake I shot them from a light boat, 
jumping them in the wild rice. The punter pushed 
the boat (which contained a revolving office-chair for 
the gunner) rapidly. The birds often arose at short 
range and presented easy marks. They were very 
abundant on the Kankakee at certain bends in the 
river, where they fed on acorns which dropped from 
the oaks into the water. A friend one day killed over 
seventy of these birds over decoys, and I often made 
fairly good scores shooting from a blind, but my fond- 
ness for moving about and exploring the marshes and 



THE WOOD-DUCK 235 

ponds for other ducks and a change of scene always 
prevented my making very large bags. 

I found the wood-ducks abundant in the little lakes, 
sloughs, and marshes near Havana, Illinois, when the 
shooting was open; but all the good duck grounds in 
that vicinity are now owned by clubs, where I am 
afraid the shooting is often over-done. 

The wood-duck is always a splendid table bird, and 
when it is fattened on wild rice and acorns is excep- 
tionally fine. It is, however, too pretty to shoot. It is 
not a very wild duck, comes well to the decoys, and is 
shot as it flies, over passes, to the streams and ponds. 
I have shot them on small streams in the woods in 
Ohio when partridge shooting, and had little difficulty 
in approaching them within range as they swam 
about. 

Many thousands are killed each season in the South- 
ern States, and since they come first of all the ducks 
to the Northern waters, they receive the first fire of 
eager sportsmen in August and September, and the 
shooting is kept up as they move southward and until 
they have paired in the spring. 

The wood-duck builds its nest in trees near the water, 
to which it carries the young before they are able to 
fly. An account appeared iw Forest and Stream of these 
beautiful birds, and the golden-eyes, butter-balls, and 
mergansers being driven from a pond in the vicinity 
of which they nested, by the introduction of pickerel, 
which destro^'cd the young. The carp also, as I have 
said elsewhere, have done much to drive ducks away 
from the marshes by destroying the food. 



XXXVI 

OTHER RIVER DUCKS 

THE sprig-tail, often called the pin-tail or spike- 
tail duck, is easily distinguished by the long 
slender tail, which suggested the name. It is found 
throughout North America, migrating like the others, 
from the North to the Gulf of Mexico, and arriving in 
the Northern States in September or October. It 
may be looked for shortly after the appearance of the 
wood-duck and the blue-winged teal. 

Like the other ducks this duck is not so abundant 
as formerl}^ but many visit the Southern States each 
winter, and it is a common duck in the middle West 
and on the Pacific Coast. 

In the spring the pin-tail is said to drum like the 
snipe, arising high in the air and then falling suddenly 
when a loud drumming noise is produced by the 
wings. This is a most remarkable performance, and 
the reader will find a further mention of it in the 
chapter on the snipe which I have seen when drum- 
ming. 

The pin-tail is found in the same marshes with the 
mallards, and is often shot over decoys when mallard- 
shooting. It is one of the best table-ducks, its flesh 
being uniformly in fine condition. 

Mr. Gumming, a San Francisco sportsman, writing 
recently for a Western magazine, says the sprig-tail 

236 



OTHER RIVER DUCKS 237 

arrive in California about October ist, and are there 
shot from blinds made on the banks of ponds or 
sloughs. The blinds are usually constructed of a wine 
cask or a large dry-goods box sunk in the ground and 
concealed by attaching tules or marsh grass to the top 
on the level with high water. The decoys are placed 
but a short distance from the blind. Mr. Cumming 
regards the " sprig" as the most wary of all the ducks, 
and says that they will circle round the pond several 
times beyond the reach of shot, especially if they have 
ever heard a gun. He says the sprig-tail is equally 
delicious, if not a little better than the mallard. 

In the winter many of these birds are shot on the 
Southern sounds about the Atlantic Coast and in the 
marshes throughout the Mississippi valley to the 
Gulf. I have shot them in many places when shoot- 
ing other ducks, but observed them more abundant in 
North Dakota than at other places I have visited. I 
often shot them on a pass between the lakes as they 
travelled back and forth, usually without the aid of 
decoys. They fly swiftly, but when they are shot and 
fall upon the water, they are easily recovered, since they 
cannot dive well. On land and in the marshes they 
skulk and hide with great skill, and are often lost with- 
out the aid of a retriever. 

When the sportsman arises in his blind the pin-tails 
jump high in the air, and many shots are missed by 
shooting under them. 

THE WIDGEON 

The widgeon is another handsome duck, well known 
to sportsmen throughout America and highly prized 



238 WILD-FOWL 

on account of the delicacy of its flesh, which, like that 
of the other dabbling ducks, is always in fine condi- 
tion. The widgeon is more often called the bald-pate 
on account of the top of the head and forehead being 
white. This duck is somewhat smaller than the mal- 
lard, being nineteen inches in length to the latter's 
twenty-two. 

The widgeon flies swiftly, usually in small flocks. 
It is extremely shy and wary, and has been said to 
warn other ducks by its whistling sound. 

Although the widgeon is a fresh- or shoal-water duck, 
it also frequents the brackish bays and sounds about 
the coasts, where it associates with the canvas-backs 
and red-heads, and steals their food in the manner 
already described. 

1 shot my first widgeon many years ago in Southern 
Ohio when they were fairly abundant on the Ohio 
River and on the smaller streams; but the incessant 
shooting at the ducks has so diminished their numbers 
that many of them are never seen in places where I 
used to find them abundant. 

The widgeon breeds as far south as Texas, and if 
laws prohibiting spring shooting were passed in all 
the States, as they should be, these birds would be 
especially benefited thereby. They are very hand- 
some birds. Mr. Thompson says the widgeon fur- 
nishes good shooting in Oregon, and comes readily 
to decoys. At times the}^ are very abundant. The 
widgeon, he says, seem to love the sunshine, hence the 
best shooting is on a bright, sunny day. 



OTHER RIVER DUCKS 239 

THE GADWALL 

The gadvvall is often called the gray duck, on ac- 
count of its gray appearance, and gray widgeon from 
its resemblance to that bird. The females of the widg- 
eon and gadwall are much alike and easily mistaken. 
A female gadwall which was shot by my brother when 
we were shooting in North Dakota, was mounted by a 
taxidermist, who pronounced it a widgeon. 

The gadwall is found throughout North America, 
but is not as common anywhere as are some of the 
other fresh-water ducks. I found it fairly abundant 
in North Dakota and usually shot a few gadwalls 
with the other ducks. One day when shooting on a 
little pond quite near the Devil's Lake, I shot a large 
number of ducks, and nearly all of them were gadwalls. 
They came quite rapidly toward evening, and stand- 
ing in the tall rushes without much effort at conceal- 
ment, 1 had some very rapid shooting. Far out on the 
lake the swans and geese were trumpeting and honk- 
ing. Large flocks of snow-geese, or white brant, as 
they call them in Dakota, were always in the air, and 
mallards, sprig-tails, teal, and all the ducks were flying 
everywhere; but the gadwalls were the only ducks 
which came to me in any numbers. Had I put out 
only gadwall decoys, there might have been a reason 
for this, but I had no decoys that day at all. In fact 
the ducks were always so abundant, that I could kill 
far more than I could carry, without decoys, and an 
ambulance from the garrison came out to carry in the 
game. 

The gadwall breeds in the Northern United States. 



240 WILD-FOWL 

It is a handsome gray bird with a white speculum on 
the wing. It is fairly abundant in the tule marshes 
in California, and there, as elsewhere, it is much es- 
teemed as a table delicacy. 

THE SliOVELER 

The shoveler is often called the spoon-bill from its 
wide bill, by which it is easily distinguished from all 
other ducks. It is not common on the Atlantic Coast, 
but is abundant in the Mississippi valley. It comes 
to the United States in the autumn with the other 
ducks, but some remain to breed throughout the 
States, even as far south as Texas. The flocks are 
larger than those of the gadwall or widgeon ; the 
flight is said to resemble that of the teal, but they 
are not so fast. 

The spoon-bills are very handsome birds, with 
bright green heads, like the mallards. They come 
readily to decoys, are excellent on the table and are 
easily placed among the best of the fresh-water wild- 
fowl. 

I have often shot the spoon-bills when shooting 
other ducks, but have nowhere seen them very 
abundant. 



XXXVII 

THE MERGANSERS 

MERGANSERS, or spike-bill ducks, as they are 
often called, are given in the check-list as a sepa- 
rate family of the order swimmers. There are three 
species : The American merganser, the red-breasted 
merganser, and the hooded-merganser. 

These birds are readily distinguished from the 
ducks by their slim, serrated spike-like bills, which sug- 
gested the names saw-bill and spike-bill, often given 
them. They are all fish-eating birds, and dive and 
swim rapidly under water in pursuit of small fish, 
which they are enabled to catch with their sharp- 
edged bills. They are not very desirable as food, and 
can hardly be considered game birds, but they are 
often shot by sportsmen when in pursuit of better 
fowls, and at some places on the coast large flocks of 
decoys painted to resemble these birds are kept, and 
spike-bills are shot over them. 

They are as much entitled to a place in this volume 
as the old squaws and coots already described, and are 
about as difficult to dispose of when shot. 

The mergansers are all very handsome birds, and as 
they fly swiftly present excellent marks. I have eaten 
them when cooked by the wife of a bayman who was 
fully aware of the difficulties surrounding their prepa- 
ration, and they satisfied the appetite which we had 

241 



242 WILD-FOWL 

after a stormy day on the bay. When canvas-backs 
and mergansers are both on the table, liowever, I take 
the former. 

THE AMERICAN MERGANSER 

Many names are given to this handsome fowl — shel- 
drake, buff-breasted sheldrake, goosander, saw-duck, 
and sea saw-bill, are the most familiar. 

Migratory, like the ducks, the sheldrake is distri- 
buted throughout North America, and breeds in some 
of the Northern States. Like the wood-duck it builds 
its nest in the trees, selecting a hole which often seems 
too small to admit it. It Hies rapidly and comes well 
to the decoys. 

This bird is less common than the other mergansers 
and is far handsomer than any of them. It is easily 
distinguished by its black head with iridescent green 
reflections. 

I have shot these birds now and then when duck- 
shooting, but have more often spared them, for the 
reason that they are not worth cooking when one is 
shooting ducks. 

Upon one occasion a very handsome specimen flew 
up from the water before my boat as I was being 
punted on a prairie stream. It was an easy mark 
going straight away, but at the crack of the gun the 
bird dove from the air and was lost to sight in the 
stream. I was under the impression that I had killed 
it, but as the punter sent the boat swiftly forward he 
cautioned me to look out for it, and it soon came up 
and was in the air again. I did better with the second 
barrel and the bird fell dead upon the water. The 



THE MERGANSERS 243 

rapidity with which these birds dive from the air is 
most remarkable and a hawk would hardly catch one. 



THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 

This bird is also known as the sheldrake, fish-duck, 
saw- and spike-bill, and is seen more frequently on the 
salt water than is the preceding species. It is very 
common on the brackish bays and on the rivers that 
flow to the sea. 

This merganser is found throughout North Amer- 
ica, and like the others builds its nest in trees. It 
feeds exclusively on fish, and Elliot describes it getting 
under them and driving them to the surface, where 
the gulls pounce upon them and between the two 
large numbers of small fish are destroyed. 

I have shot them several times over decoys on Shin- 
necock Bay when the broad-bills were not flying well, 
and one day made quite a large bag. The birds were 
nearly all females, however, and I could not account 
for this at first, but it was in the spring of the year 
and my decoys were all painted to represent the hand- 
somer males and this no doubt accounted for my bag- 
ging only females. 

The wife of the bayman at whose house I dined 
when at the bay, made a very palatable stew of the 
mergansers, putting in potatoes, onions, and perhaps 
other vegetables, of which I partook with satisfaction 
after long days of exposure on the bay. As the ducks 
come in fewer numbers more attention is paid to this 
bird, and as a mark it answers every purpose and often 
affords good shooting. 



244 WILD-FOWL 

THE HOODED MERGANSER. 

This bird is much smaller than the others and is 
accordingly often referred to as the little saw-bill, 
spike-bill, and pond sheldrake. The male is remark- 
able for its beautiful crest, from which it took its name. 

The hooded merganser also nests in trees. It flies 
very swiftly, being nearly, if not quite, as fast as a 
teal, and it is, of course, necessary to shoot far ahead 
of it to hit it. 

The little spike-bill is found usually on ponds and 
streams. I have only shot them occasionally when 
shooting better game. 



BOOK III 
SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 



XXXVIII 

THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 

THIRDS of the shores, or wading-birds, arc desig- 
-Ll natcd by the ornithologists as Limicolce, liter- 
ally, inhabitants of the mud. A number of these birds, 
however, inhabit the uplands, preferring grass-fields 
and meadows to the marshy ponds or muddy margins 
of streams, and many are found upon the sandy shores 
of the ocean. 

As we consider these wading-birds from the sports- 
man's point of view, we find it difficult to determine 
how many of them should be classed as game. One of 
the best of all the birds, the magnificent woodcock, 
heads the list. There is a gradual decrease in size and 
value as marks from the large curlews until we have 
remaining a few diminutive birds, such as peeps and 
sanderlings, thoroughly undesirable as marks and 
worthless as food. We cannot take size, however, as 
the criterion, since some of the smaller shore birds are, 
like the diminutive rail and reed-birds, better food than 
some of the larger. The kill-deer plover, on the other 
hand, is a fair-sized mark, and is shot often by sports- 
men, but in my opinion he is too fishy to eat. 

Sportsmen, however, like doctors, differ. Many, no 
doubt, will continue to shoot both kill-deer and the 
smaller marks, which should be left to pipe and whistle 
in the marsh or run gracefully from the waves on 

247 



248 THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 

sandy beaches and follow the receding water in their 
search for food. The woodcock and the snipe are 
shot over dogs. The method of capture is not am- 
bush, but pursuit quite similar to that of the gallina- 
ceous birds. The upland })lover, one of the best table 
birds on the list, is also taken by pursuit, but the 
sportsman usually approaches the birds in a vehicle or 
on horseback, without the aid of dogs, since the birds 
rely upon flight rathci- than concealment. All the 
other shore-birds are taken from ambush, and are shot 
over decoys, the sport having much resemblance to 
that of duck shooting. The weather (late summer 
weather) for this sport is, however, usually fine, quite 
difTerent from the severe cold and rain, snow and wind, 
when duck shooting is at its best. The shooting of 
shore birds is a lazy pastime, not to be compared with 
the tramp across fields and through the woods behind 
the thoroughbred setters and pointers, nor with the 
shooting at the wary swift-flying ducks on the marsh 
lands. Forester said that sportsmanship proper could 
not be said to belong to this form of shooting, unless 
(which few persons do except the professionals) one 
make and set out his own stools, paddle his own canoe, 
and whistle his own birds. 

The shore birds are migrants. As the geese, brant, 
and ducks move northward in the spring, they are 
followed by the waders, familiarly termed bay-birds 
or bay-snipe. These birds nest in the far North, 
and should not be shot in the spring, when their visit 
is of short duration. They return late in the summer, 
and were they protected in tiie spring there would be 
a vast improvement in the summer and early fall 



THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 249 

shooting. The bay-birds are found not alone about 
the shores, bays, and salt-water marshes, but most of 
the varieties cross the interior of the country. I have 
seen them in great abundance in the Dakotas, and 
they are probably to be found nowhere in greater 
abundance than there and in Texas at the proper sea- 
sons. They now come in greatly diminished numbers 
to the Eastern and Central States by reason of the 
over-shooting, especially for the markets. They are 
fortunately protected on the preserves of the numerous 
duck clubs, and when the ducks are present are not 
much molested, the larger game being more attractive. 
The number of these birds which used to visit the 
marshes about the bays of the Atlantic Coast seems 
almost incredible. Giraud was informed by a gunner 
residing in the vicinity of Bellport that he killed one 
hundred and six yellow-legs by discharging both bar- 
rels of his gun into a flock while they were sitting 
along the beach. Wilson mentions eighty-five red- 
breasted snipe being killed at one discharge of a mus- 
ket. Audubon says he was present when one hundred 
and twenty-seven were killed by discharging three 
barrels. I have seen the birds sufficiently numerous 
about the muddy rims of ponds in North Dakota to 
make such shots possible, but always preferred to shoot 
at the flying marks. I never made a pot-shot on the 
ground, and usually left the wading-birds undisturbed, 
preferring to use my ammunition on the sharp-tailed 
grouse and wild-ducks, which were equally abundant. 
I have been much inclined to eliminate many of the 
shore-birds from my list of game, but the gradation 
from the better to the poorer varieties is so slight as to 



250 THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 

make it difficult to draw the line of exclusion. The 
sportsmen of to-day are more and more interested in 
natural history, and I have determined therefore to in- 
clude all the shore-birds in my commentary, giving 
the larger space to those which are well deserving of 
it, and but a brief mention to those which the sports- 
man should not molest. These would soon become 
tame enough to furnish a proper amusement with the 
camera. 

There are in all seventy-six species and sub-species. 
The ornithological list includes seventeen stragglers, 
or accidental visitors, such as the European snipe and 
woodcock. There arc five sub-species which differ so 
slightly as to be the same to the sportsman's eye. 

The order Liinicohe contains six families of shore- 
birds. These, in the order of their importance to 
sportsmen, are : i. Scohpacidcs, the family of snipes and 
sandpipers; 2. Charadriid(E,i\\Q \>\owers\ i. Rccurviros- 
tridcB, Arocets and Stilts ; 4. PJialaropodidce, the phala- 
ropes ; 5. AphrizidiB, the surf-birds and turnstones ; 
6. Jacanidce, the jacanas. 

The birds which interest sportsmen are for the most 
part found in the first three families above. In the first 
are the woodcock, the snipe, and the upland plover or 
Bartramian sandpiper, and several other sandpipers 
fairly good as marks and to eat. 

Among the plovers there are several fine birds, espe- 
cially the golden-plover and the black-breasted plover ; 
large plump birds. The golden-plover and many of 
the other varieties are far better table birds when 
found on the Western prairies than they are when 
feeding about the shores and salt marshes, when they 



THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 251 

frequently have a most disagreeable fishy taste. I 
have shot the dowitcher or red-breasted snipe on the 
grounds now preserved by the English Lake Club 
(near Chicago), when the sport was similar to that of 
snipe-shooting. The birds were feeding in the grass, 
and I shot them while shooting snipe, and so closely 
do they resemble the snipe in size and length of bill 
that I had several in the bag before I noticed the dif- 
ference. Their ffesh was excellent. On the prairies 
of Indiana and Illinois I have shot many golden plover 
when they were plump to the bursting point, and their 
flesh compared favorably with the delicious Bartramian 
sandpiper or field plover. By eliminating the small 
and undesirable varieties, the list of shore birds consid- 
ered game would be reduced to about two dozen birds, 
including the woodcock, snipe, upland plover,dowitcher 
curlew, golden plover, dunlin, yellow-shanks willet, and 
others of less importance. 

The three most important birds on the list are the 
woodcock, the snipe, and the upland plover. We will 
consider these in their order, giving them the space 
they deserve. We then proceed to bay-bird shooting, 
where all the other varieties may be taken in a day over 
decoys. A descriptive list of all the shore birds is 
given in the Appendix, from which the sportsman may 
pick his game according to his taste or conscience. 



XXXIX 

THE WOODCOCK 

NO warning cry used by sportsmen is more thrill- 
ing than that often heard in the wet thicket, 
" mark cock ! " No American game bird is more highly 
prized by shooters than the woodcock. William Jar- 
vis well says in a poetic sentence, it is "a bird with the 
magic power to turn its admirer from all other feath- 
ered game, if once he hears the whistle of its wings 
or sees its form glide stealthily down the glade." Dr. 
Coues observes this is tJie game bird after all, say 
what you please of snipe, quail, or grouse, and Gurdon 
Trumbull adds "yes. Doctor, either in the field or on 
toast." 

The woodcock is peculiar in its appearance and is 
easily distinguished from all other game birds. The 
general color is rufous gray, effectively marked above 
with black ; its head is larger than that of the snipe 
or partridge (Bob-white), and the black eyes are set 
well back and high to enable it to see when boring 
in the mud with its long bill. The legs and bill 
are a gray flesh color, the bill being about two and 
three-quarter inches long and twice the length of the 
head. Compared with the Bob-white the woodcock 
is somewhat heavier and larger, the length of the 
former being from nine and one-half to ten inches, the 
latter ten and one-half inches to twelve inches. The 
woodcock in extent of wings is from sixteen to eigh- 

252 



THE WOODCOCK 253 

teen inches, and in weight is from five and one-half to 
nine ounces. A full-grown cock will weigh as much 
as nine ounces. Compared with the snipe the wood- 
cock is heavier and stouter, and is more stocky in ap- 
pearance. The sexes are alike in color and markings, 
but the female is always the larger. 

The technical Greek name {Philohela) indicates that 
the woodcock is a swamp-lover, and the Latin word 
{tninor) was added to indicate that he is smaller than 
the European woodcock, which he much resembles. 

The woodcock is distinctly a bird of the wet wood- 
lands. He is often found, however, on wooded hill- 
sides and high up in the mountains. Trumbull says 
he is known to the darkies about Matthews Court- 
house, Virginia, as mountain partridge ; and though 
we commonly associate woodcock with bogs and low- 
lying land, we must not forget the good shooting we 
have had sometimes higher up, nor the fact that many 
of these birds retire for a time to the hill-tops each 
year. Mr. George B. Sennett saw a pair of these birds 
on the summit of Roan (North Carolina) in a clump of 
balsams at an altitude of fully six thousand feet. {The 
Auk, July, 1887.) 

The woodcock arrive in the Northern States in 
March, some as early as February. The courtship 
begins in April, and the male bird may then be seen 
dancing about in the bog with elevated tail before his 
admiring mate, and singing his love song, which has 
been described as a nasal squeak. After singing for a 
time he soars aloft on whistling wings and shortly 
drops with great suddenness on the spot from whence 
he flew. Edwin Kent is my authority for the state- 



254 SHORE BIRDS 

ment that farmer bojs take advantage of the cock 
when thus performing, and watch for the bird when 
he leaves the ground, then run to the spot he left and 
kill him with a switch when he drops to earth again. 

The nest is rudely constructed, usually on the leaves 
on a dry spot in the wooded swamp. There are four 
or five eggs, speckled bufJ in color; and should the nest 
be destroyed by flood, the birds will usually nest a 
second time. The young, like the young partridges, 
are precocious in the extreme, and run about as soon 
as they leave the shell. The woodcock has protective 
markings, and the russet color harmonizes well with 
the leaves; it is difficult to see the birds on the ground. 
When the mother is alarmed, like the partridge she 
warns her young to hide, and flutters away as if dis- 
abled, inviting her enemy to follow her as she leads 
him away from her young. Mr. Hills, of Hudson, 
New York, sent me four remarkable photographs of 
this bird and its nest. The pictures were made in the 
town of Claverack, Columbia County, New York. Mr. 
Hills says: "I found the nest June 24th, and secured 
the pictures June 28th." After making one picture he 
took a small stick and lifted up the bird's bill so that 
it would show to better advantage. He then placed 
the camera within eighteen inches of the bird, leaving 
her bill resting on the stick, and for the fourth picture 
he lifted the bird from the nest and photographed the 
eggs. She returned to the nest soon after he left it. 
He found the eggs not pecked on the morning of the 
28th, but on the morning of the 30th, at nine o'clock, 
she had hatched her young and they were gone. 

The woodcock feeds b}' boring. Its long flexible bill 



THE WOODCOCK 255 

is well supplied with nerves, and it searches for its food 
by feeling for it. The food is chiefly earthworms, but 
it also devours many insects which are found in the 
damp woods, and has been seen to catch butterflies. 
Audubon discovered that a woodcock devoured in a 
single night more than its own weight in worms, and 
some experiments recently made on a captive bird con- 
firm his observations. Mr. Kent says one of his friends 
kept a pair of woodcock in confinement for a few weeks 
in one end of his greenhouse fitted up for their accom- 
modation. Several large, shallow, wooden trays were 
filled two or three inches deep with loose moistened 
garden loam, in which was placed the supply of angle 
worms. It required more of the gardener's time than 
could well be spared to provide sufficient worms for 
the birds, as the trays were cleaned out during the 
night, and he eventually let the birds go. 

When feeding the woodcock stands for a moment 
with his head on one side as if listening, then thrusts 
the long bill into the earth and feels for a worm. The 
bill is repeatedly withdrawn and thrust in again, now 
an inch or more to the right, then to the left, or in 
front or behind the first boring, until at last the worm 
is struck and withdrawn. The pattern of holes left in 
the mud indicates to the sportsman the presence of the 
birds in the cover. I recently observed some snipe 
boring in the Sandusky marshes, and it seemed to me 
the bill thrusts were more rapid than those of the wood- 
cock. The pattern made in the mud is similar. The 
woodcock is a nocturnal bird and usually feeds and 
flies by night. Although found in the woods and al- 
ways remaining in brush or timber or cover of some 



256 SHORE BIRDS 

kind, such as standing corn, during the day, the wood- 
cock at dusk will fly out to any ground where food 
is abundant. I have known them to drop into gar- 
dens quite near the house, and they often fly to feed- 
ing grounds quite distant from the cover. I have 
had them fly quite close to my head when sitting in 
the front yard, and they have often been seen flying 
through the streets of a village, and once down Broad- 
way, New York. I had one brought to me for iden- 
tification which was taken in a business street in 
Cincinnati, and knew of one being captured in a pas- 
senger depot. Many are killed by striking telegraph 
wires or fall victims to prowling cats. The woodcock 
remain until the ground freezes, when they at once 
disappear, going south. There the heavy cane-brakes 
are a safe refuge, and it is fortunately so, since the 
woodcock is one of the birds which seem destined to 
become extinct at an early date. 

The woodcock is found from the Gulf to Canada 
and west to Nebraska and Kansas. They were for- 
merly very abundant in certain counties in New York, 
and Forester mentions killing with a friend one hun- 
dred and twenty-five birds in one day, and seventy 
the day following before noon. This was in July and 
it was intensely hot. The ground, he says, became so 
foiled by the running of the innumerable birds, that 
although they had excellent retrievers they lost be- 
yond doubt forty or fifty birds, and at four in the after- 
noon of the second day they were entirely out of am- 
munition. 

Woodcock are abundant in Louisiana during the 
months of December and January, and they were for- 



THE WOODCOCK 257 

merly shot at night by means of torches and beaters. 
I found them very abundant a few yeai's ago in 
Northern Indiana and in Illinois, but they are no- 
where found in any such numbers as Forester de- 
scribes. The sportsmen of the country have viewed 
their decimation with alarm, and just now the ques- 
tion of a rest period of some years' duration is being 
urged in the papers devoted to field sports. 

The season for cock-shooting was until a few years 
ago entirely too long. The opening day in most of 
the States was July ist, and summer cock-shooting 
was practised everywhere. The argument in favor of 
shooting cock in summer and snipe and ducks in the 
spring has always been ad Jiomincm, resting not upon 
merit, but upon the position of those engaged. If we 
do not shoot woodcock in July and snipe in April, 
we will have no July or April shooting. But as the 
scarcity of game of all sorts is brought to the atten- 
tion of sportsmen, the sentiment against spring and 
summer shooting grows stronger, and this sentiment 
is already reflected in the legislation of many States. 

I passed one summer at a farm a few miles from 
Cincinnati, on the Little Miami River. I had no 
thought of finding woodcock so near the city, but 
one day I asked a local angler if he had ever seen any 
woodcock in the vicinity, and he said he had flushed 
an occasional bird along an old and abandoned mill- 
race just across the river. The following Sunday he 
was going over after minnows, and I accompanied him, 
taking a camera, since he described the place as most 
picturesque, darkly beautiful and romantic, with occa- 
sional glimpses of water in the old race. We entered 



258 SHORE BIRDS 

the woods, and stooping to examine the ground for 
borings I put up a cock and soon flushed several 
more. In a short stroll we flushed eighteen or twenty 
birds. A few days later I returned with the gun, 
accompanied by a small boy from the farm and the 
farm dog, a large black animal, with a white tip at the 
end of his tail, which had some pointer blood, but 
absolutely no training. In a few hours I succeeded in 
making a very fair bag of birds. The ground was 
overgrown with tall horse -weeds, festooned with 
creeping vines, and shaded by the heavy foliage of 
large trees. Many smaller willows stood along the 
race and it was by no means an easy place to shoot. 
I returned often to this ground and always met with 
some success in the afternoon, but usually found no 
birds in the morning. In fact, I shot most of my birds 
late in the afternoon, and was convinced that they 
were more easily found when the feeding time ap- 
proached and the birds began to move about. I 
would advise sportsmen when shooting other game in 
the vicinity of a likely cock cover, to reserve that for 
the afternoon, since I am firmly convinced more birds 
will be found then, than in the morning. 

I once made a trip especially for woodcock to some 
splendid ground south of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We 
started on the opening day (July 4th) and had a spe- 
cial car and engine at our disposal which moved us 
from one wet woodland to another, and we succeeded 
in making fair bags each day. We would have done 
better had not others been shooting ahead of us out of 
season, as was evidenced by the empty shells which 
were scattered everywhere in the woods. The wild 




COCK SHOOTIXC, LATE IN THE DAY 



THE WOODCOCK 259 

roses and other flowers were in full bloom and the 
heavy summer foliage cast strong blue shadows 
through the woods, intensifying by contrast the spots 
of vivid green where the sunlight fell. It was very 
hot and we returned often to the ice-cooler in the car. 
The mosquitoes were abundant and industrious. Al- 
though we had ice we found it difficult to preserve 
the game. Many of the birds were small, and I was 
more than ever impressed that it was not the season 
for shooting feathered game. 

Forester tells of shooting in July with a friend who 
fired at a woodcock, which fluttered off as though 
wounded. When it was again put up it returned on 
strong wings to the place where it was first flushed. 
Following it, one of the dogs found and caught a 
young cock still unable to fly. What stronger argu- 
ment could be advanced for prohibiting the summer 
shooting? The date when the young were hatched in 
the nest photographed by Mr. Hills was, as I have ob- 
served, later than June 28th. The open season in 
some of the States is still July ist. Just think of a 
campaign against birds two days old ! It is not only 
outrageously wrong, but cruel to shoot woodcock in 
July. The opening date should not be earlier than 
October ist. The consensus of opinion among sports- 
men is now strongly against summer shooting. It has 
been prohibited in New England and in many other 
States, and it is to be hoped that it will be prohibited 
in every State in the Union within the coming year. 

There is but little pleasure to be obtained from sum- 
mer cock shooting. It is very hot, tiresome work at 
best, hard alike on man and dog. The heavy summer 



26o SHORE BIRDS 

foliage alone makes the shooting difficult. The young 
birds are easy marks and the many small ones make 
an unattractive bag. The knowledge that the shot 
may deprive birds two days old of the parents' care 
and protection should be sufficient to keep sportsmen 
out of the woods at this season without the prohibi- 
tion of a legal enactment. 

In bright October, when the frost is in the air and 
the leaves have taken on the gorgeous tints of autumn, 
the birds are strong on the wing and present far more 
difficult marks. They are heavy, plump, and hand- 
some, the rufous tints being frosted with gray, and the 
flesh is in fine condition for the table. The dogs, in- 
stead of trotting about with tongues hanging from 
their mouths, hunt with a vigorous eagerness, their 
heads are held high and it is a pleasure to see them 

go- 
As to the kind of dogs, since the shooting of wood- 
cock is more often an incident to a day's tramp afield 
for partridges or ruffed-grouse, they are usually the 
pointers or setters. The dogs should be trained to 
hunt close to the gun, and are often lost for a time 
when pointing the game in the thick underbrush. A 
small bell is sometimes attached to the collar to aid 
the sportsman in locating the dogs. Where the bell 
was last heard tinkling the dog is often found on a 
point. Small spaniels are perhaps the best dogs for 
woodcock when one goes in pursuit of these birds 
alone. These merry little dogs gallop about at short 
distances from the gun and give tongue when they 
flush the game. They have excellent noses and are ex- 
tremely fond of the sport. The woodcock gives forth 



THE WOODCOCK 261 

but little scent as compared with other game, but on 
the moist ground, where they are always found, it is 
sufficient for the pointers and setters to locate and 
point them. 

When flushed, the cock whirls rapidly up through 
the overhanging trees, and flies swiftly away, produc- 
ing a whistling sound which has been the subject of 
much controversy among sportsmen and ornitholo- 
gists. Trumbull, in an article in Forest and Stream, 
gives his observations of a captive bird, and is firmly 
of the opinion that the whistling noise is vocal. Brew- 
ster, in the same magazine, insists that the noise is 
made by the wings. Many other writers joined in the 
controversy, and pages have been written on the sub- 
ject. I believe the noise is made by the wings. 

Since the cover is dense, the shooting is difficult, 
and snap-shots are the rule. I have often shot wood- 
cock by firing into the cover after I had lost sight of 
them, aiming a little ahead of the disappearing bird, 
and later recovering him with the aid of pointers or 
setters. The shots are usually at short range. A light, 
open gun, 1 2 or 16 gauge, is used, loaded with small shot; 
No. 9 early in the season, and No. 8 late in the fall. 
The smokeless powder is far superior to the old black 
powder of a few years ago ; the heavy cloud of smoke 
from the first barrel hanging low in the damp atmos- 
phere of the wet woods often prevented the use of 
the second barrel. 

The woodcock disappear in August from places 
where they have been abundant in July. There has 
been much speculation as to the cause of this disap- 
pearance, which occurs at the moulting time. Some 



262 SHORE BIRDS 

writers insist there is a migration, some say the birds 
go to the hills, others believe the birds resort to the 
standing corn. That the disappearance occurs there 
can be no doubt, but there seems to be much doubt as 
to the cause of it, and the place resorted to. 

The disappearance was once referred to in Outing 
(September, 1892) as " the mystery of the wood- 
cock's life." My own observations lead me to be- 
lieve that it is not the knowledge that the loss of the 
feathers renders them to a certain extent helpless, 
which induces them to leave the swamps, but the fact 
that the food becomes exhausted. 

When we recall that a woodcock will eat more than 
his weight in angle-worms in a night, and consider 
that each cock has his mate and four or five young, 
with the proverbial appetite of youth, it seems reason- 
able to believe that the food supply gives out on the 
breeding grounds, which are often quite limited in ex- 
tent. As the dry season comes on the boring area is 
much restricted, since the flexible bill can only be used 
in soft, moist earth. About the old mill-race in Ohio 
where I had an opportunity to notice the disappear- 
ance of the birds, I observed that the ground, as the 
season progressed, was bored literally full of holes in 
all places where boring was possible. The race, and a 
creek which carried its waters to the river, flowed 
through a low strip of land between hills or high ter- 
races, leading to the fields above. The entire ground 
was not over a mile in extent, and the boring area was 
quite narrow, and in places where there were deposits 
of lime-stones, of course there was none. Early in the 
season the terraces or hill-sides were sufficiently moist 



THE WOODCOCK 263 

in places to enable the birds to use their probes, but as 
the season advanced, but a few small spots remained 
where the birds could bore. The sportsmen in the 
little village nearby said the birds had gone to the 
hills, their evidence supporting the contention of 
Trumbull and others. 

With a dog almost worthless I found birds in the 
neighboring corn-fields, which furnished evidence to 
support the theories of many other writers. Being sat- 
isfied that the birds scatter at this season in their search 
for food, the only question which remained was why 
they should abandon the home of their birth, when 
they might readily go out to feed at night, and return 
to rest in their chosen cover by day. Possibly the par- 
tial loss of wing power at this season is the answer 
to the question. It is most likely that the continuous 
shooting may make it seem desirable to the birds to 
move to other more secure retreats. Ducks when 
much persecuted will abandon the choicest feeding 
grounds: why should not the woodcock do the same? 
I certainly gave the birds along the old mill-race every 
reason to desire a change of habitat. 

The woodcock are now protected on many of the 
preserves owned by duck clubs. The wet woodlands 
adjacent to the vast wild-rice marshes about the Kan- 
kakee and the Sandusky rivers, and everywhere within 
the range of the woodcock, where there are duck clubs, 
harbor many woodcock, and the protection given the 
birds will do much toward the salvation of the race. 

Woodcock were bred and raised in Fairmount Park, 
within the cit}^ limits of Philadelphia, last season. 

Good cock-ground in the Middle and Western States 



264 SHORE BIRDS 

is usually found in the forests adjacent to the streams, 
muddy from flowing through rich alluvial bottoms. 
The timber is walnut, beech, and other nut-bearing 
trees ; oaks, maples, and the picturesque sycamores 
with wide-spreading white branches, and many wil- 
lows. The undergrowth is heavy. Tall horse-weeds 
grow in many places higher than one's head, and 
many vines and creepers, from the slender morning- 
glory to the larger grape, are tangled in a way to make 
the walking difficult. In the hills and mountains of 
Pennsylvania, New York, and New England the cocks 
are found beside brighter, purer waters in the alder 
swamps and places where the beautiful rhododendron 
flourishes. Many springs and brooks in the haunts of 
the ruffed-grouse water areas of boring ground often of 
very limited dimension. 

In the South the cocks are found in the wet woods, 
but as I have already observed, there is a harbor of 
refuge in the cane. Charming is the ramble over any 
of these grounds, magnificent the game. Great is the 
joy of the sportsman who in the autumn stops a plump, 
gray cock as he goes whistling through the brake. 

During very dry seasons large tracts of woodcock 
ground become uninhabitable, there being no longer 
any places soft enough for boring ; at such times 
the birds cannot feed and must move. Should there be 
a small lake or pond in the vicinity with woods ad- 
jacent, and springs not affected by the dry weather, the 
woodcock will there congregate in vast numbers. I 
once set out from Lake Forest, a village north of 
Chicago, with a sportsman who resided there, our des- 
tination being a duck club at Fox Lake. We went in 



THE WOODCOCK 265 

his shooting-trap, drawn by two horses, and when well 
out on our journey met with a slight accident which 
could only be repaired by a blacksmith. We found 
one near at hand at a cross-road's village, and I asked 
him if there were any ducks in the neighborhood. He 
said they were abundant on a small lake a mile away, 
and we went to the lake to put in the time while the 
repairs were being made on the wagon. At the lake 
we found a leaky boat which would not carry two per- 
sons, and I agreed to my friend's proposition that I 
take a trip about the shore while he put out to the 
open water to stir up the ducks which were floating in 
rafts at the middle of the lake. It was some years 
ago, when it was the fashion to shoot large shot at 
ducks, and we carried Nos. 2 and 3. 

I had gone but a few steps when I flushed a hand- 
some cock, and soon discovered there were more wood- 
cock on the ground than I had ever seen before. The 
walking was abominable. The mud in many places 
was very deep, and I had to make my way carefully, 
stepping from one hard tuft of grass to another. The 
heavy duck-loads often upset my balance and I had 
several falls. The shot was, of course, too large for 
the game ; my shooting was especially bad and the 
bag light. My friend, after several long shots at the 
ducks, pulled over near the shore and asked me what I 
was firing at so rapidly. I informed him that the 
woodcock were holding a mass-convention. While 
we were talking several birds arose near at hand and 
flew off. He declined to come ashore, observing my 
plight and the bad nature of the ground. It was about 
time, too, for us to get on. We returned to the wagon 



266 SIIORK r>lKI)S 

ami tiiicliiii;- it fuiishocl wo rosuiiunl ouv imirnov. 1 have 
novcf soon so mam- winnloook l)oti)io ov siiico. Thoy 
had no ih)ubt >;athoio<.l Irom miles aiDuiul, sinoo the 
country was lor tho int>st part thoroughly drioil up. 

Ncaily all writers mention the laot that the wood- 
cook are often unknown to the (armors on whoso lands 
they reside, and Crunlon rrumbull says: "Many lunny 
stories are to»ld of sportsmen boinj;- let! hir into the 
woods by promises of i;HH)tl woodoiKdv shoot inj;-, only 
to hiul at the end of their journey that the wood- 
peckers were referred to. 1 had a similar experience 
within the year in one oi the westeiii counties ot 
I'onnsylyania. I (Mice shot a very large ciK'k when 
visiting a farmer in Southern Illinois but a short dis- 
tance from his house, lie expressed great surprise 
upon seeing the bird, aiul said he had never seen one 
before. We were shooting partridges and he was an 
excellent shot, very fond of the sport, and spent much of 
the time during the autumn shooting. 1 killed several 
other woodccx'k during my visit, and could only ac- 
count tor his not knowing the birds by reason of the 
fact that partridges were extremely abundant, and he 
no doubt kept out of the wet places, finding an abund- 
ance of birds on the stubble and in the dry wood- 
lands. 

Forester tells us that, during the fall migration, as 
rapidly as the woodcock are shot in the cover, new- 
birds will be found to take their places. He advises 
the sportsman who has shot all the birds in a cover in 
a day, to return the next, and says ho will find the 
cover restocked from day to day. lie W(^nders at this 
habit, but does not try to explain it. My opinion is, 



11 IK WOODCOCK 267 

that the birds migrating in small cfKnpanics folhnving 
one another, arrive and depart with some regularity at 
the cfjvers where the food is abundant. When the 
birds are all shot off one day, and a similar number are 
found on the ground the next day, the matter is noted 
and much talked about as something strange. When, 
no birds are found the next day, the matter is not dis- 
cussed. 1 am prepared to admit that new birds often 
will be found in a cover shot out, but not always. 

The wof^dcock has many hjcal names. He is some- 
times called snipe, or big-headed snipe, wood-snipe, 
whistling-snipe, mud-snipe, and red-breasted snipe. 
The latter term is more often applied to the dowitcher. 
Timber-doodle is ancjther name used by countryfolk. 

The European woodcock is an occasional visitor to 
our country and is occasionally shot by sportsmen. 
He is a very much larger bird, so much larger, indeed, 
as tf) be easily distinguished. I read some time ago 
of an experiment to introduce these birds into America, 
but the result was not satisfactory ; the birds were not 
seen again after their first migration. 



XL 

THE SNIPE 

' I "HE snipe (ornithologically Wilson's Snipe) is the 
-^ game bird of the open bog-meadows, and is sec- 
ond only in importance among the wading-birds to the 
woodcock. He is a handsome, graceful bird, protect- 
ively marked above with brown and tan and black. 
The markings on the back are lengthwise. The under 
parts are white and gray. The bill is long, slender, 
and flexible, like that of the woodcock, but he is a 
more slender bird, and somewhat lighter. 

The snipe arrives in the Northern States early in the 
spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground. A 
few remain in secluded places to nest, but most of the 
birds continue northward as the weather becomes 
warm, and nest far beyond the boundary of the United 
States. There are three or four eggs in the nest. 
Like the woodcock, the snipe feeds by boring in the 
soft earth for angle-worms. His presence is indicated 
by the numerous small holes made by the bill, and 
until there are borings it is useless to look for him on 
the meadow. 

The snipe is found throughout North America when 
migrating, but only on wet meadows and fields where 
the ground is suitable for boring and where his food is 
to be found. He winters in the Southern States, Mex- 
ico, and the West Indies. I have shot them on the 

268 



THE SNIPE 269 

meadows of New England and west as far as Dakota, 
where they were fairly abundant about the small 
streams and lakes. Nowhere are they as abundant to- 
day as about the prairie sloughs in the Western and 
Southern States. 

Audubon says the snipe is never found in the woods, 
but Forester mentions finding it in wild, windy weather 
early in the season in the skirts of moist woodlands 
under sheltered lee-sides of young plantations, among 
willow, alder, and brier brakes, and, in short, wherever 
there is good soft, springy feeding-ground perfectly 
sheltered and protected from the wind by trees and 
shrubbery. Abbott says : " During the autumn I have 
found them along neglected meadow ditches overhung 
by large willow-trees, and again hidden in the reeds 
along the banks of creeks. I have shot them repeat- 
edly in wet woodland meadows." I have often found 
snipe in bushy tracts and among the swamp willows, 
but 1 have never seen them in the forest, and believe 
they so rarely resort to the woods that it would not 
be worth while to seek them there. 

From the middle of March to the middle of April 
we may look for the arrival of the snipe. They seem 
to know in some way, we know not how, when the 
frost is out of the ground, and suddenly make their 
appearance in great numbers. Where there were no 
birds one day there may be thousands the next. Their 
going is equally sudden. After a real warm day in the 
spring and at the first hard frost in the autumn not 
one will be found remaining. There is so much un- 
certainty about the time of arrival and departure that 
I would advise sportsmen living at a distance from the 



270 SHORE BIRDS 

shooting grounds to have some local sportsman tele- 
graph when the snipe are on the grounds. The first 
warm, settled weather in the spring will bring the 
snipe to the meadows. It was until recently every- 
where the fashion to shoot snipe in the spring. While 
the sport is not so barbarous and cruel as the shooting 
of the woodcock in summer, since the snipe have not 
nested and there are no young birds, it has neverthe- 
less been thought desirable to stop the spring shoot- 
ing, and in many States there are laws prohibiting it. 

The frost seems to leave the uplands much earlier 
than the lowlands. Early in the season, therefore, 
when the snipe first arrive, there may be none on the 
low-lying meadows, their favorite ground, and many 
birds on fields, especially cornfields, higher up. I once 
tramped an entire morning early in the season over 
one of the best snipe grounds in Indiana — a low, wet 
prairie with a slough winding about through its centre 
— and failed to find a single bird, I was certain the 
birds had arrived, since I had found them a few days 
before on some meadows near the village where I was 
stopping. Late in the day, in despair, I asked a coun- 
try boy if he knew where the snipe were. 1 little ex- 
pected an)^ information from him, but after describing 
the bird, he directed me to a cornfield on higher 
ground, and advised that I enter the field from a lane 
which passed it, and at a certain point where there was a 
depression in the field. Following his advice, I climbed 
the rail fence, and as I entered the field several snipe 
arose but a few feet ahead of me, and, without stop- 
ping to pick up a bird or moving from my place, I 
killed a half dozen birds . and in less than two hours 1 



THE SNIPE 271 

bagged thirty-eight snipe and two golden plovers — all 
killed in that cornfield and the one adjacent, where I 
followed a few of the birds. 

The snipe return to the Northern States in Septem- 
ber, but man}' of the good spring grounds are then 
entirely dried up, and being unsuitable for boring, the 
snipe do not visit them. In the autumn I have often 
found the snipe in the ditches and about the edges of 
small streams where the ground is soft enough for 
boring. I have found them abundant in the autumn 
on the marshes controlled by the duck clubs about 
Lake Erie ; usually on the muddy margins of the ponds 
or water-holes, or along the streams or sloughs. When 
the meadows are dry, the snipe must necessarily go to 
the marshes owned by the clubs, and in many places 
there is no fall shooting at snipe except for club 
members. 

When the snipe first arrive in the spring they are 
wild and in poor condition, but in a few days they 
become fat and lazy, and on warm days lie fairly well 
to the dogs. In wild, windy weather they have a 
habit of flying up to a great height and letting them- 
selves fall through the air with a humming noise pro- 
duced by the wings. This performance, which it will 
be observed is somewhat similar to the courtship of 
the woodcock, is repeated over and over again, the 
snipe descending (not to earth, however, and often not 
low enough for a shot), and then soaring aloft and 
dropping as before. At such times snipe will not lie 
to the dogs, and those found on the meadow are as 
wild as hawks, and the sportsman cannot expect to 
meet with any success until this performance of 



2/2 SHORE BIRDS 

"drumming," or "tumbling," as it is called, is over. 
Herbert says he would not have been more surprised 
when he first saw the snipe perform in this manner, 
had they begun to sing " God save the King," or more 
appropriately, " Hail Columbia." 

One wild, windy morning when shooting with a 
friend in Indiana, we found the birds all drumming, 
and getting under them, I tired several shots at them 
as they descended, but we did not kill a bird until 
afternoon, when the sun came out warm and genial 
and the birds ceased their performance and returned 
to the fields. We then had good sport with them. 
Snipe were formerly very abundant both in the spring 
and fall. Forester tells of large bags made on the 
meadows about the Hackensack and Passaic rivers. 
Bogardus mentions killing, with a friend, three hun- 
dred and forty of these birds in a day on the Sanga- 
mon in Illinois, and says their bag was seldom so 
small as seventy-five couple at the right time. The 
larger score would indicate an average of a little less 
than three birds every five minutes for ten hours. 
Any one who has seen Bogardus smash glass-balls or 
shoot pigeons at the trap can readily believe that he 
could ably assist in the killing of such numbers; but 
admitting the skill of Bogardus no one can kill all the 
birds shot at, and many escape without a shot being 
fired, either arising out of range, or while the gun is 
being reloaded and flying awa}^ from the line of beat; 
so that it is evident there must have been myriads of 
birds on the ground. I have seen these birds extremely 
abundant in many places in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, 
and upon several occasions made large bags, which 



THE SNIPE 273 

would have been larger had I not run out of ammu- 
nition. 

On one occasion, in Ohio, I killed twenty-eight birds 
in a little over an hour's shooting before breakfast. It 
was seriously urged some years ago in Ohio that the 
snipe needed no legal protection, since they came in 
such abundance it would be impossible to exterminate 
them. 

The snipe are, however, nowhere as abundant to- 
day as formerly, and it is fortunate that they have in 
Ohio and elsewhere comparatively safe retreats on 
the club preserves, where they are not shot in the 
spring, and where they are often unmolested in Sep- 
tember, for the reason that the teal and wood-duck 
shooting is then good on the same grounds. 

There is a reason for the absolute disappearance of 
these birds from many places to be found in the drain- 
ing of the lands. The feeding grounds being de- 
stroyed, the snipe were forced to go elsewhere. Some 
of the most famous snipe-grounds in Indiana (one of 
the best snipe States in the Union), the prairies about 
Vincennes and in the vicinity of Lafayette, Chalmers, 
Reynolds and other places farther north were thus 
closed to sportsmen. And so it has been throughout 
the West where the soil was rich and fertile, and there 
was not too much water. As an offset to this destruc- 
tion of good shooting ground, some new grounds 
have been made by turning in cattle upon the lands 
adjacent to sloughs and ponds, where the wild grasses 
grow too tall and heavy for the snipe, and where only 
the rails were found. While reducing the grass to the 
proper height for snipe, the cattle improved the feed- 



274 SHORE BIRDS 

ing ground by much tramping over it, and in such 
places I have recently found snipe abundant where 
there were none a few years ago. 

The season before last I was fishing in the waters of 
the St. Clair flats, and for some miles about the small 
hotel where I was stopping the reeds and grasses 
were entirely too long and heavy to harbor snipe. 
The rails were abundant, both the small varieties and 
the large king rails, but there was not enough water 
in the grass to float a boat, and sportsmen well know 
success does not follow the pursuit of rails afoot. It 
was September and I knew the snipe must be passing 
upon their Southern migration, and made repeated in- 
quiries for them. I was assured by my landlord, who 
was very fond of shooting, that there were none about; 
but once when I was on a tour of inspection through 
the waterways to the eastward in the direction of the 
middle channel, I was lost in a blind cut and found at 
its head a dairy farm which supplied some of the large 
hotels about the south channel with milk. Upon go- 
ing ashore to make some inquiries I flushed a snipe 
and noticed the cattle had made the ground most suit- 
able for feeding. The owner of the ranch had no ob- 
jection to my shooting. I fortunately had a gun in 
the boat and several boxes of cartridges, and I was 
soon at work with the birds, shooting over a brace of 
spaniels which belonged to the dairy-man. I did 
some very good shooting, and when I returned with 
the birds my landlord expressed surprise at my find- 
ing any so near at hand. 

Here is an excellent suggestion for the duck clubs, 
especially those frequented by the shoal-water ducks, 



THE SNIPE 275 

or dabblers, where the snipe, although abundant, are 
scattered about on the narrow rims of mud and there 
is often no good shooting. I was discussing this mat- 
ter one day with a member of the Ottawa Club, when 
he pointed out to me an excellent piece of snipe 
ground across the river which had been made by turn- 
ing in some pigs. He said he believed these animals 
made even a better snipe ground than the cattle, but 
on this point I have my doubts. I have never much 
fancied shooting when a flock of pigs followed on be- 
hind as witnesses. The snipe are often found abund- 
dant upon the sloppy tracts used by cattle about the 
distilleries, and I am quite sure some undesirable 
sloughs and wet lands can be converted into good 
snipe grounds by the use of these animals. 

Another method which has been tried with some 
success is the burning of the grass when it is very dry, 
and I have recently seen it stated, I forget now where, 
that the frost seems to come out of the ground earlier 
where the grass has been burned off, and the sugges- 
tion was made that the blackened surface took more 
kindly to the sun's rays. Any place especially desira- 
ble by reason of the frost being out of the ground and 
the food abundant will attract the birds upon their 
tirst arrival and hold them until their departure, pro- 
vided they be not too much persecuted. There 
should be at all clubs certain rest days for these birds 
each week, such as are provided by law in some States 
for the ducks, when under the club rules the birds 
would be unmolested. 

Upon preserves where there are both snipe and 
ducks certain days might be open for each, and when 



276 SHORE BIRDS 

the preserves are large certain tracts might be closed 
to advantage at all times, with the result that some of 
the ducks and snipe woidd remain to breed on the 
club property. 

The size of the bag should be limited by law, as it 
now is in many States, and supplemented by club rules; 
so that the killing of three hundred and forty of 
these birds in one day will no longer anywhere be 
tolerated. 

The flight of the snipe is peculiar. When flushed 
he flies rapidly for a short distance to right or left ; in- 
stantly reverses his course and goes in the opposite 
direction, and continues to pitch and dart rapidly from 
right to left, all the while uttering a squeak which is 
said to resemble the word escape, and escape he al- 
ways does from the novice, and quite often from older 
and more experienced guns. 

After going some distance the snipe settles down to 
a course more regular. It was formerly considered 
most important to wait until the snipe flew straight 
before firing the gun. He was, however, often out of 
range before making the change in his flight, and the 
sportsmen of to-day, with their light hammerless guns, 
treat him as a right or left bird, as he may be going, 
and aiming a little ahead have a better chance of bag- 
ging him than those who used to wait to "see the 
rover travel straight." 

The snipe has never been for me a very difficult 
mark. His flight is silent. There is no noisy roar of 
wings such as the grouse and partridges make to dis- 
concert the shooter. The shots missed are easily ac- 
counted for ; for it is seen that the bird has decided to 



THE SNIPE 277 

go about on the other tack just at the moment the 
load of shot was sent across his bow, and of course he 
escapes and flies on joyfully, announcing the fact to all 
the other birds on the meadow. The cause of the 
error being apparent, it is easily corrected. The tacks 
are sufficiently long to enable the sportsman to kill the 
bird before it makes the turn, and if he be sufficiently 
cool he can select his shot, taking it to right or left as 
he may prefer. 

I have shot snipe in many places, and have always 
made better bags and killed more birds continuously 
without a miss when shooting snipe than when shoot- 
ing any of the other small birds of the upland, such as 
partridges, woodcock, and plover. The prairie-grouse 
are so large and fly so slowly that they are of course 
easier marks. 

The most important thing for a snipe-shooter to 
know is that he must beat his ground down wind. He 
must enter a field or meadow from exactly the oppo- 
site side to that taken when he is in pursuit of grouse 
or partridges, and turn his back upon the wind. The 
reason for the rule is that the snipe always arise and 
fly against the wind. They are usually wild and shy, 
and take wing when some distance from the shooter, 
so that it is all-important that they should spring and 
fly toward and not away from him. The dog, to be 
sure, is placed at a disadvantage when sent down wind, 
but this is more than offset by the birds flying toward 
and not away from the gun. The dogs used are usually 
pointers or setters, and they soon learn to point the game 
at long distances, and not to attempt the near approach, 
which is possible when pointing grouse or partridges. 



278 SHORE BIRDS 

Forester, who had excellent opportunity for study- 
ing the snipe when they were abundant on the Passaic 
meadows, near his home, sa3'S he made a much better 
bag when shooting one day in sight of another gunner, 
an equally good shot, and who had better dogs, for the 
sole reason that he knew how to beat for the game. 
When they met at the local tavern in the evening the 
other gunner expressed surprise at being so badly 
beaten, especially by one who, from his point of view, 
was hunting the wrong way — with the wind. 

When Forester explained that he purposely shot 
down wind his rival accepted the situation, glad of the 
excuse for being so badly beaten. 

Bogardus gives the same advice. " When hunting 
along a slough," he says, "your companion will com- 
monly be willing that you shall take either side you 
choose, as few men know that it makes any difference. 
But it makes a very material difference when the wind 
is blowing across or nearly across the slough, and if 
you take the windward side 3'ou will have the most 
shots. I have always done so, and have often killed 
two or three snipe to one killed by my companion. 
The reason is simply this : the snipe f\y up wind, and 
those which rise on the leeward side of the slough 
cross it to windward, while none of those which get 
up on the latter side fly to leeward." 

On one occasion, when shooting near Reynolds, In- 
diana, I met two men who were beating toward me in 
a very large field. They had an excellent dog and 
were very good shots. We entered the field at oppo- 
site sides about the same time, and when we met I 
had killed some thirty birds, while they together had 
not killed over a half-dozen. The birds arose wild be- 



THE SNIPE 279 

fore them, and many of them fllew over or past me, 
presenting good shots, while none of my birds went to 
them. I made a double shot just before we met, and 
had difficulty in finding the birds, but they offered the 
services of their dog, and he soon found and retrieved 
them, first pointing dead in fine style. They wondered 
that I should kill so many birds when they found it 
difficult to get a shot. 

In an old note-book I find the record of a snipe 
which arose very wild before me three times when I 
attempted to approach him against the wind, but upon 
making a detour and moving upon him down wind, he 
allowed me to approach very close, and then flew 
toward me, passing so near that I had to wait for him 
to get off a suitable distance in order not to miss him 
or tear him to pieces. 

The snipe are easily killed when hit, and seldom fly 
on after receiving their death-wound, as the partridges 
often do. They are usually found scattered about on 
the feeding ground or in small flocks or wisps, as they 
are termed, containing perhaps a half dozen or more 
birds. 

The rule of silence is of the utmost importance 
when snipe shooting. There are birds often on the 
ground which do not get up at the report of the gun, 
but upon a remark to a companion about the shot or 
an order to the dog, they may take wing and escape 
before an empty gun. Slip fresh shells into the gun 
at once and be always on guard and ready for a sec- 
ond and even a third or more shots. I have repeatedly 
killed a number of birds before picking up the first or 
moving from my position. 

Bogardus mentions killing on one occasion three 



28o SHORE BIRDS 

birds at a shot, and says he has several times killed two 
with one barrel; but such shots are uncommon since 
the birds pitch about some distance apart. I have 
made such a shot but once, when I waited until two 
birds flying toward each other crossed, and, firing 
just at the right time, killed them both. 

On warm, sunny days, the snipe are often quite tame 
and do not fly far. I was shooting on such a day 
along a slough in Northern Illinois and had but fifteen 
charges of shot. With these I bagged fourteen birds 
— thirteen snipe and one prairie chicken, missing only 
two shots and killing two snipe with one barrel, as 
stated. Had I been supplied that day with plenty of 
ammunition, 1 have no doubt I could have made a 
record, since the birds presented easy marks. 

The proper gun for snipe-shooting is the 12 gauge, 
loaded with No. 10 shot early in the season, and No. 9 
later, or No. 8 if the birds are very wild. Some writers 
advise the use of No. 12, or mustard seed, but since 
there may be a strong wind blowing on the meadows, 
when such small shot will be badly deflected and 
the shots are often at long range, I much prefer the 
heavier shot. 

It is well to have a few shells loaded with No. 6 or 
7 shot for an occasional mallard or teal ; these shells 
can be used on the snipe if the ammunition gives out. 

Dr. Lewis does not regard dogs as of much account 
in snipe-shooting, "perhaps," he says, "because I never 
had a particularly good one for this sport — except a re- 
triever." He admits, however, that snipe frequently 
lie well and suffer a dog to approach within a few feet 
of them. 




■^-- V 



THE SNIPE 281 

I am nuicli in favor of the use of do^^s. The walk- 
\n^ is difficult and hiborious, the grounds are of wide 
extent ; a well-trained dog can be sent long distances 
to search for the birds and thus save the shooter many 
steps. He will point wild birds at long range and 
retrieve the fallen, and should the birds prove very 
wild and refuse to lie to him, he can be sent forth to 
find and move a lot of birds, wliich are easily marked 
down, and if necessary the dog can be ordered to heel 
upon approaching them. Then, too, more than half 
the pleasure of field sports is the observation of the 
high bred, intelligent animals. The protective mark- 
ings of a snipe make it most difficult to find without 
the aid of a dog, and the shooting is often too rapid for 
the good marking of dead birds. Snipe-shooting is 
hard work for the dogs. They get thoroughly wet 
and muddy, and have earned a rest by the fire before 
they are put in the kennel for the night. It is impor- 
tant they should be dry, otherwise they may be stiff 
and useless on the morrow. 

The spaniels often used in cock-shooting have been 
used on snipe. I never so used them excepting on the 
occasion referred to in Michigan and once in Illinois. 

The two bright little spaniels at the dairy-farm 
rushed out of the house and came to mc at the sound 
of the gun, and since their owner did not object, I used 
them that day and on several other occasions, and 
they did excellent work. The ground was peculiarly 
suitable for their use, however, a good part of it being 
a long narrow strip between two channels. Starting 
out with the wind at my back, the dogs ranged well 
ahead and flushed the birds, which flew toward me, 



282 SHORE BIRDS 

often passing immediately overhead. A few which 
went out over the water, returned and pitched quite 
near me, and havin<^ marked them, I went to them at 
once with the doj^^s at heel. One day I took a set- 
ter in my boat when 1 left the Star Island hotel, and 
shot over him with the spaniels at heel. The small 
dogs made far better retrievers, going through and 
under the heavy rushes, reeds, and grasses, where the 
birds often fell ; while the setter soon tired himself out, 
floundering about and tivingto move by jumping over 
them. The Snipe is often called jack Snipe or Eng- 
lish Snipe, but the English Snipe is rarely seen as a 
straggler to our country. 

A light shooting-coat and short trousers, and forme 
light stout shoes and leggins, make up the costume 
for snii)e-shooting. Many go alield wearing the long 
rubber boots or waders. I prefer to travel light and 
get wet, and rely upon an immediate change of foot- 
wear at night to prevent a cold. 



XLI 

THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER— UPLAND PLOVER 

■^ I ^HE Bartramian sandpiper of the ornithologists is 
^ the upland or field plover of the sportsmen. 
Wilson named it after his friend William Bartram, 
near whose botanic gardens on the banks of the river 
Schuylkill he first found it. Seton says, "ever since 
Wilson's time this name has been continually thrust 
into the face of the public, only to be as continually re- 
jected. Upland plover it continues to be in the East, 
and quaily on the Assiniboine." In the West, the bird 
is the prairie pigeon, and at New Orleans it is the pap- 
abote. 

It was formerly abundant in New England, and on 
Long Island and throughout the country west to the 
Rocky Mountains, frequenting only the high, grassy, 
open fields. It does not frequent the ponds or streams 
or ocean shores, and in its habits is more of a plover 
than a sandpiper. Its food is chiefly insects. It never 
has the fishy taste so often observed in other sand- 
pipers and plovers, and its flesh is always delicious. 
Audubon, Wilson, Coues, Elliot, Forester and the rest 
of the ornithologists and sportsmen are united in prais- 
ing this bird as an article of food. 

Colonel Dodge regards it as one of the best of our 
table birds, using it as a standard of excellence to which 

283 



284 SHORE BIRDS 

he compared the 3^oung sage-grouse. Forester says : 
" As far as a bonne bouclic for the epicure goes, this 
plover is inferior in mj judgment to no bird that flies, 
unless it be the canvas-back duck, and there, with the 
chancellor I doubt." As a game bird and object of 
pursuit, I do not myself care about him. The modus 
operandi does not suit my book or entertain me ; never- 
theless, there is much skill displayed in circumventing, 
or as Major Docherty would say, surrounding, this 
wily bird ; and as frequently a very large number may 
be brought to bag, it is with some persons a very fa- 
vorite sport. Forester describes at length the method 
of pursuit in Rhode Island, where the sportsman is 
driven in a chaise as if to pass the birds, the vehicle 
being driven in a circle, approaching nearer and nearer 
until the birds are about to take wing, when the sports- 
man steps quickly to the ground and fires as they arise. 

The upland plover is a bird of graceful outline, 
brown in color, marked with black and buff. There is 
but little difference in the appearance of the sexes. 
The nest is always on the ground in the grass, and 
there are four eggs. 

The flight of this bird is strong and swift, and, since 
they are usually shot at long range, they are difficult 
marks. The method of pursuit is everywhere the same, 
the sportsman being driven in a vehicle of some kind 
(usually a wagon, buggy, or buck-board in the West) as 
near as possible to the game, and jumping down to 
shoot as the birds take wing. They are sometimes 
shot from the saddle, which, after all, is perhaps the best 
way of pursuing them. Dogs are, of course, useless, 
since the birds will never lie to them. 



THE UPLAND PLOVER 285 

Upland plover are no longer found abundant any- 
where excepting in the West and South. 

They have vanished entirely from many of the East- 
ern fields, but are still fairly abundant in Illinois, the 
Dakotas, and Indian Territory, Mr. Hough says this 
bird fairly swarms at times on the lower table-lands of 
Utah and Colorado and overruns Kansas and Ne- 
braska in large flocks ; but they do not decoy regularly 
enough to warrant the use of decoys, and the shooter 
need not waste time in putting out a flock. In a few 
instances he shot them over decoys made of dead birds, 
but could hardly say that they drew in to the flock, nor 
is it certain that they will pay more than the slightest 
attention to an imitation of their whistle. They are 
especially fond of ground that has recently been burnt 
over. 

Before becoming familiar with the gun these birds, 
like all others, are quite tame. Dr. Coues says he 
found them so tame in Kansas that they were de- 
stroyed without the slightest artifice, and that he had 
seen them just escape being caught with the crack of a 
coach-whip. Mr. Van Dyke, in a magazine article, has 
given us an interesting account of shooting these birds 
in standing corn. He killed seventeen birds in one 
field, many of the shots being within twenty-five feet, 
and made one double shot. This is the only instance 
I know of where the birds have been walked up and 
shot at close range. I should have been tempted to 
buy the field. I doubt if they are to be found any- 
where to-day as tame as described by Coues. They 
learn quickly that man is their enemy, and the fear be- 
comes, I believe, a matter of instinctive heredity. 



286 SHORE BIRDS 

My own experience with these birds has not been 
extensive. On Long Island I found them so few in 
numbers and so wild as to make it hardly worth while 
to go in pursuit of them. In company with a local 
gunner who thought he could whistle them, I put in 
some time with them for want of something better to 
do, but the birds seemed to me to put an additional 
mile to the distance between us at each whistle. We 
were entirely unable to stalk them, and those which 
came anywhere near our ambush were always, in the 
drawling dialect of my companion, "Tew wide, tew 
wide." 

In the far West, where I found these birds more 
abundant and tame, I was accompanied by setters, and, 
the grouse being abundant, I had no time to devote to 
birds which did not interest my dogs, and shot but a 
few specimens. 

A friend of mine, an army officer stationed in Texas, 
informed me that they kill large numbers of them, 
driving about in an ambulance, and I regretted much 
that I could not accept an invitation to shoot them 
there. I have had many a cruise in an army ambu- 
lance after all sorts of game, from the lordly elk and 
buffalo to birds of all sorts, but have never used an 
army ambulance as a means of approaching the " prai- 
rie pigeon." 



XLII 
BAY BIRD SHOOTING 

THE shore birds or waders other than the wood- 
cock, snipe, and upland plover or Bartramian 
sandpiper may all be considered together, so far as the 
shooting is concerned, under the familiar title bay birds. 
Throughout the entire length of our sea-coasts, about 
the bays, lagoons, inlets, and salt marshes, most of the 
varieties may be seen late in the spring upon their 
northern migration, and at the end of summer return- 
ing southward with the young of the year. 

When going to shoot the baj birds I would advise 
the sportsman to put up with some local gunner or 
fisherman, so as to be on or near the ground, excepting, 
of course, those sportsmen who belong to the clubs, or 
have an invitation to shoot on club preserves. In ad- 
dition to the advantage of being on or near the ground 
the sportsman domiciled with a local gunner will have 
the advantage of his advice, and without much diffi- 
culty will reach the points frequented by the birds. 
Although he may have a fair knowledge of the habits 
of the birds, it is all important to know what they are 
doing in a given locality ; what particular marsh, flat, 
point, or mud-hole they may be using, and the most 
likely places for a blind. For several years during my 
residence at Yale I had an arrangement with a market 
gunner at Shinnecock Bay. He had a neat and tidy 

287 



288 SHORE BIRDS 

cabin on a little creek, a short distance from the bay, 
good boats, plenty of decoys and was thoroughly fam- 
iliar with every inch of the ground. Of course, after 
spending some weeks with this obliging and capable 
man I was able to go out alone on the bay, knowing 
well every likely place for birds. 

Although I regard the shooting of bay birds as 
the least interesting of all field-shooting, I have spent 
many pleasant days so engaged ; and when the day is 
fine and the flight good, the sport furnishes excite- 
ment enough of a pleasurable kind, and a bag of birds, 
good, bad, and indifferent ; their value depending much 
upon their food, and many of them too small and insig- 
nificant as marks to be worthy of a sportsman's notice. 

The method of pursuit at all seasons is the same. 
When the tide begins to flow the sportsman sets forth 
for the shooting ground at the margin of some bay or 
pond, accompanied usually by a professional market 
gunner or bayman, who sails the boat, puts out the 
decoys, constructs the blind or hide, and, in fact, does 
all the work. 

The blind is constructed of sea-weed, sedge, or 
bushes ; sometimes a group of small evergreen trees, 
stuck in the mud, at a favorite place and left standing, 
so that the birds may become familiar with them. 
Often a box is sunk in the mud or sand with a fringe 
of sea-weed or marsh grass about it, further to conceal 
it. This is the best form of blind, so far as deception is 
concerned, but it is decidedly tiresome, lying down in 
a narrow box for hours at a time, especially if the flight 
is not good. The decoys, wooden or tin images, 
painted to represent the more common varieties of 



BAY BIRD SHOOTING 289 

bay birds, are set up a short distance from the place 
of ambush, usually at the edge of the water, some of 
them in the shoal water, others on a likely little bar or 
feeding-place. Considerable skill is displayed in set- 
ting them so that they resemble a lot of birds, natu- 
rally spaced and posed as if feeding. 

The sail down the bay in a boat moved by a sum- 
mer breeze is delightful. As the sportsman listens to 
the waves splashing against the prow and breathes the 
salt air, his eyes rest upon the broad marshes, beauti- 
ful in tones of yellow, olive, and Venetian red, which 
stretch away to the horizon, where they blend with the 
diminutive summer clouds floating in an azure sky. 
There are a few hay-stacks. There is a cabin here 
and there, a picturesque fish-reel, and the tall, slim 
light-house gleams white like the passing sails. Pres- 
ently the bay-man exclaims : " Mark! Dowitch ! " and 
as a matter of habit, ducks his head and begins to 
whistle in imitation of the notes of the dowitchers or 
red-breasted snipe, or it may be the loud shrill, Whew! 
Whew ! Whew ! in one, two, three order, should the 
birds be the noisy tattlers, the yellow-legs. A bunch 
of birds flying closely together is seen far out over the 
beach, moving to a feeding ground. There is no dan- 
ger of the birds coming within range, however. They 
know the gun too well. The bay-man recovers from 
his automatic pose of concealment, ceases to whistle, 
glances at the sail, moves the rudder slightly in his 
endeavor to make more speed, and the merry waves 
go slap, slap, slap against the bow, sweet music to the 
sportsman's ear, far different from the rattle in the 
streets at home. 



290 SHORE BIRDS 

Approaching a feeding ground, a variety of birds 
are seen diligently at work, running about on the 
muddy or sandy flat and in the shallow water. These 
sound an alarm and take wing, flying rapidly away. 
The blind is quickly arranged, the decoys are set out 
and the boat sails away to a sufficient distance, so as 
not to alarm the returning birds. As the tide rises 
the birds feeding in the marshes are driven out and 
fly about. The bay-man at once knows what variety 
is approaching, even when they are but small specks 
on the horizon, and begins to whistle a perfect imita- 
tion of their cries. Soon they discover the counter- 
feits and wheeling all together they come sailing up, 
flutter a moment over the decoys and often alight 
among them if permitted to do so. 

If the birds are allowed to alight an immense num- 
ber may often be killed at the first shot, and many 
more will surely fall to the second barrel as the rem- 
nant of the flock flies away. 

There may be some excuse for a market gunner with 
a large family to support (if legally permitted to shoot 
birds, as he should not be) shooting birds on the 
ground. His business requires him to get the largest 
number of birds with the least expenditure of ammu- 
nition. There is no such excuse for a sportsman. He 
should select his birds while they are on the wing and 
try for a double shot. Since he presumably shoots 
for sport alone, he would do well to try and make his 
double shot count for not more than two birds, shoot- 
ing where the birds are widely spaced instead of where 
they are most closely crowded together. It is short- 
siofhted in the extreme now that ^ame birds of all sorts 



BAY BIRD SHOOTING 291 

are vanishing so rapidly to try and kill them all at 
once. I have referred to the legal limitation of the 
bag to be made in a day, found necessary in many 
places. 

In Vermont — the bag limit is five birds per diem — 
a single pot-shot puts an end to a legal day's shooting. 
In Maine the limit of a day's bag is fifteen birds, ex- 
cepting sandpipers (which I suppose is a legal blunder 
for shore birds), where the bag limit is seventy birds. 
Club rules and regulations govern the bag on many 
preserves, and it is evidently to the sportsman's inter- 
est nowadays to select his birds and kill only one at a 
time. Sportsmanship is, I am pleased to observe, more 
refined and humane to-day than formerly, and the true 
sportsman seeks to enjoy the sport with the least pos- 
sible cruelty, killing his birds clean and wounding as 
few as possible. The shot at the flock where the birds 
are closest together is sure to wound a number in addi- 
tion to those killed outright. 

There may be many varieties of birds in the bag at 
night. In Massachusetts and elsewhere it is customary 
to speak of "big" and "little" birds. The curlews, 
dowitchers, tattlers, golden and black-breasted plovers 
and some others rank as big birds, and all the smaller 
plovers, sandpipers, and sanderlings are classed as 
small birds. 

I am firmly of the opinion that it would be well to 
draw the line so as to exclude all the little birds from 
the list of game, with the exception of one or two vari- 
eties, such as the pectoral sandpipers, which are excel- 
lent food birds. For my part I do not care to shoot 
at these. After lively work with canvas-backs, mallards, 



292 SHORE BIRDS 

grouse, partridges, woodcock, snipe and other splen- 
did game birds, the pectoral sandpiper, peep, and oxeye 
do not suit my gun. 

A retrieving spaniel under good command is useful 
and ornamental in bay bird shooting. He should be 
under excellent control and lie close in the blind, not 
winking an eye until ordered out to retrieve. The 
dogs used for duck-shooting will do very well. I have 
used setters. The gun should be the 12 gauge; 
shot No. 8, with a few loads of No. 7 or 6, for the 
largest birds or any long-range shots. A light sleeve- 
less coat of gray or brown canvas, a hat of the same 
color and light shoes make up a suitable costume, since 
the weather is warm. A heavier coat and rain-coat 
may be left in the boat. A well-filled lunch basket, 
with a bottle of beer or wine, if you will, and plenty of 
water and ice, add to the pleasures of the noon-hour, 
and the ice may save the game on a very hot day. 

Forester's advice is to use two heavy guns — 10- or 
1 2-pounders— loaded with coarse powder and No. 5 
shot. It is needless to say the advice is not heeded 
by sportsmen. A few such guns may be found to- 
day at some of the duck clubs, but they are not fired 
at peeps. 

Difficult shots are sometimes presented at wild pass- 
ing birds, when the gun should be held well ahead of 
the mark, as in duck-shooting. 

A piece of netting over the hat will keep off some 
of the mosquitoes and gnats, which are marvellously 
abundant on good bay bird grounds, and, unless you 
are pretty thoroughly acclimated, as Forester says, 
they " will probably use you up to about as great a 



BAY BIRD SHOOTING 293 

degree as you will use up the vvillets, robins, dow- 
itchers, marlins, yellow-legs, and black-breasts." A 
fine salt breeze, however, often blows the mosquitoes 
away, and a cloud of tobacco-smoke may be sent after 
them. 

The migrating shore birds which follow the streams 
of the interior and are found far from salt water, an- 
nually travelling up and down the valley of the Missis- 
sippi and its tributaries, are not much shot over decoys. 
In some places they are quite tame and may be ap- 
proached within range, and when shot at often will fly 
away but a short distance, and return again to hover 
over their dead and dying companions, presenting the 
easiest kind of shots. As larger game rapidly vanishes 
more attention is given to the shore birds, and they 
soon will become wild, and when shot at will fl}'^ long 
distances. 

There are many places in the Western States where 
the shore birds may be shot over decoys in the same 
manner as on Long Island, but they are more often 
shot incidentally by sportsmen who are afield for snipe, 
or as they pass over the duck-blinds. It is in such ways 
that I have shot most of the varieties in the Western 
States. 

The shore birds are fairly abundant at many of the 
duck preserves, and no doubt as the ducks come in 
fewer numbers more attention will be given them. At 
some of the clubs there are full sets of decoys for 
shore birds. 



XLIII 

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 

HAVING described the method of pursuit, we now 
come to consider the birds, to look over the 
bag, as it were, handling them one by one, to see what 
birds are worth the powder and to throw out those en- 
tirely worthless, which should not have found a place 
in the bag. 

The desirable birds of the snipe and sandpiper family 
(in addition to the woodcock, snipe, and upland plover, 
or Bartramian sandpiper), are twelve in number: The 
dowitcher or red-breasted snipe, the knot, the dunlin, 
the marbled godwit, the Hudsonian godwit, the greater 
yellow-legs, the lesser yellow-legs, the willet, three cur- 
lews, and the pectoral sandpiper. 

All but the last named and the dunlin are birds of fair 
size, good marks, and fairly good to eat when their 
food does not give them a too " fishy " taste. The pec- 
toral sandpiper is a small bird, but its flesh is better for 
the table than that of many others, and on this account 
it properly finds a place in the bag. This bird is in 
some localities known as the jack-snipe, a name more 
often applied to the true snipe {scolopax). 

We proceed to consider these larger birds in their 
order, and since all the shore birds, big and small, 
under existing game laws are considered game, we 
have listed the smaller varieties in the appendix, suffi- 

2(J4 



OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 295 

ciently describing them to enable the sportsman to 
identify them. The smaller birds are sometimes shot 
by accident when the gun is fired at larger game, and 
it has been the practice on many beaches to shoot them 
for sport for the want of something better when the 
larger birds are not about. 

I.— THE DOWITCIIER — RED-BREASTED SNIPE 

This bird is about the same in size as the Wilson 
snipe, has the same long bill and is often mistaken for 
the latter bird. In the Western markets I have seen 
them hung up in bunches with the Wilson snipe, often 
called jack or English snipe. I have found and shot 
them on the same wet grass fields with the Wilson 
snipe. Along the shores they are shot over decoys 
with the other shore birds. They respond well to an 
imitation of their whistle, and the baymen are quite 
expert in calling them. As Elliot observes, they are 
among the last to take alarm should an intruder draw 
near. Like some of the other varieties, before being 
too much shot at they will return a second time to the 
decoys, provided the gunner remains concealed and 
can imitate their familiar call, and many often fall at a 
shot. 

The long-billed dowitcher is the Western variety and 
is only found in western North America, breeding in 
Alaska to the Arctic Coast, migrating south in winter 
through the western United States (including the Mis- 
sissippi valley) to Mexico, and less commonly along 
the Atlantic Coast. Its bill is somewhat longer than 
that of the Eastern bird, but from the sportsman's 
point of view the two birds are the same. 



296 SHORE BIRDS 

II. — TIIK KNOT 

The kiu^t. often called robin snipe, from tlie resem- 
blance of its lower pluniaq;c to that ol the robin, is 
neatly as laru^e as the uj)huul plover, oi- Bartramian 
saiulj)iper. ll is found throii^lunit the world, fre- 
quentiiij:^ the shores ol all continents. It has been very 
abundant on the Atlantic Coast and is still nioie abun- 
dant than nianv of the other waders. The youiii^ are 
often known as orav-backs, or i^ray-backed snipe. 

Mr. Raljih Cireenwooil, writiny^ ior S/iootini^aiiif /''ish- 
rV/i,'', says that at Chat ham. Massachusetts, the sanderlings 
arc very plentiful ; the turnstone plovers are also abun- 
dant and by most gunners arc esteemed a step higher 
than the sandeiling. "The knot (red-lireast)," he says, 
"is still more highly esttxMned b\' sjtortsmen, and as a 
rui(> one or two are shot each day by each gunner. 
Sanderlings are by some considered unworthy of a 
charge of shot ; but the sanderling is generally quite 
fat, and its Hesh. accoiding to my opinion, is superior 
to the black-bellied plover, the greater yellow-legs, or 
in fact most of the shore birds." ..." All strive to 
shoot the knot." 

Other local names foi" the knot are red sandpijier, 
may-bird, red-breast plover, and beach robin. 

These birds feed like the other smaller and more 
familiar shore birds, running gracefully away from the 
t)n-rushing wave, ll\ing a few feet if necessaiy to avoid 
being overtaken by it and following the receding 
waters, feeding as they go, in a manner familiar to all 
who have taken a stroll on the beach. 

Anderson refers to the knot as a superior bird of 
ready sale. 



()jiih:R sNin':s and vSANi)nn-:Ks 297 

The kiiol llics swiftly, presents ii fairly j^ood mark, 
and comes readily to decoys, especially wlieii the notes 
ol its call, " wheep, whecp," arc imitated. 

in, — 'iiih; DUNi.iiv 

The dnnlin ol the i;uiincrs is the red-backed sand- 
piper ol the ornitholo^^ist. They are found throujj^h- 
out America, and have been jj^iven the name dunlin 
from the ICuropcan bird. In the check-list ol the 
American ( )riiitholo<^ical Union Ihis bird is ;^ivcn as 
a sub-species ; the linjj^lish dunlin, which is an oc- 
casional visitor to our shores, bein^ placed as the 
species. 

The dunlin is usually shot by sportsmen and is 
plutnp and palatable. rrund)ull says no apolojj^y is 
necessary for introduciufj; i( in his lisl, as, notwithstand- 
injT its diminutive size, it has appeared many times in 
lists ol _i;unners' birds, and affords some sport even to 
adults when bigger birds are absent. Hates, who is 
most familiar with shore-bird shooting as practised on 
the Massachusetts coast, says this bird is deservediv a 
favorite with sj)ortsmen, both from its beautiful j)lu- 
magi; and foi" its edible qualities. They feed on the 
sandy Hats, and in the autumn are easily caj)tured, 
any boy being ablt; to walk them up, or call them 
down. Audubon says the bird is consideied excel- 
lent eating. I shot most of my dunlins when a boy, 
and can hardly regard them as game birds for adults. 
Think of a dunlin in a bag with the ruffed or j)rairie 
grouse, the j)aitridgc, woodc(Jck, snipe, teal, canvas- 
back, or mallard ! 

The red-back is often called black-bellied sandpiper; 



298 SHORE BIRDS 

the cinnamon markings on the back and the large 
black patch on the belly suggesting the names. It is 
well to know that in the winter the upper parts are 
mottled gray and the under parts white. The birds 
are no longer " red-backs," or " black-bellies." The 
European bird is a slightly smaller bird; otherwise the 
same. 

IV. — THE MARBLED GODWIT 

The godwits somewhat resemble the curlews and 
are found often associating with them. They are 
easily distinguished ; the bills of the godwits are nearly 
straight, or slightly curved upward. The bills of all 
curlews have a decided downward curve. There are 
in all four godwits found in North America, but the 
marbled godwit and Hudsonian only are important. 
The Pacific godwit is an Asiatic bird, found also in 
Alaska, and as an occasional visitor to California. The 
black-tailed godwit is very similar to the Hudsonian, 
and represents the latter in the old world ; an oc- 
casional specimen has been seen in Greenland. 

The marbled godwit is found throughout North 
America. With the other waders it comes to the 
Atlantic coast in April or early in May, and returns 
again in the late summer. The centre of its abun- 
dance in summer, and its main breeding-ground, is ap- 
parently, says Coues, the Northern Mississippi and 
Eastern Missouri regions and thence to the Saskatche- 
wan ; for, unlike its relative (L. Hudsonica), it does not 
proceed very far north to nest. It breeds in Iowa 
and in Minnesota and Eastern Dakota, where I ob- 
served it in June, and where the eggs have been pro- 



OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 299 

cured. It is found with the field plover and curlew 
nesting on the plains, and Dr. Coues says that in its 
habits at this season it most nearly resembles the cur- 
lew, and that the two species, of much the same size 
and general appearance, might readily be mistaken at 
a distance, where the difference in the bill might not 
be perceived. The godwit is wild and difficult to ap- 
proach. It is shot over decoys, and, like many other 
varieties, these birds return again to the dead and dying 
after a shot has been fired. They are often called red 
curlew, straight-billed curlew, marlin, and have other 
local names. 

V. — THE HUDSONIAN GODWIT 

This bird is somewhat smaller than the preceding. 
It is found upon its migration about the Eastern coast, 
but is never abundant. It is found also in the interior, 
but does not go to the Pacific coast, except in Alaska. 
I have seen the god wits only in Dakota, and have shot 
but a few of them, usually without decoys, when in the 
pursuit of other game. I have approached quite close 
to them when they were feeding on the margin of 
ponds in the West, and do not regard them as difficult 
marks. 

VI. — THE GREATER YELLOV^^-LEGS 

The greater yellow-legs and the lesser yellow-legs 
are identical in pattern and color. A photograph of 
one would do for the portrait of the other were there 
nothing to indicate the size. They are different birds, 
although one might be taken for the young of the 
other. From their loud, shrill whistle, sounded in 
notes, often repeated, they are called tattlers, yelpers, 



300 SHORE BIRDS 

and telltales. They often come whistling past the 
gunner when he is shooting wood-duck or teal in 
September, and upon such occasions and when snipe- 
shooting in the spring I have killed many of them. I 
had a chance to observe them quite closely a year ago 
in the autumn, when sketching in the Ottawa marshes 
south of Lake Erie. One day I had for some time a 
lot of these birds quite near me, and there were also 
in the water beyond mallards, teal, dusky ducks, and 
some others, all within range, and a number of snipe 
were boring along the shore. It was just before the 
shooting season opened, and the birds were on the 
preserve of the VVinous Point Club. 

The yellow-legs are marked with black and white. 
The head, neck, and under parts are white streaked 
with black. The lesser bird is about the size of the 
Wilson snipe ; the other is considerably larger. They 
are easily distinguished by their long legs, which are 
of a bright Naples yellow. They are found along the 
sea-shore and were formerly abundant, but they are 
now far more numerous about the Western ponds 
than in the East. They come well to the decoys, 
especially when the gunner is familiar with and can 
imitate their whistle. 

The greater yellow-legs breeds in the far North, 
occasionally in the United States. I have shot these 
birds in man}^ places, more often in Ohio, Indiana* 
Illinois, and Dakota when in pursuit of other game. I 
have not the patience required to sit in a blind and 
whistle bay birds when there are snipe on the mead- 
ows or woodcock in the woods or wood-duck or teal 
to be " jumped " out of the wild rice. I much prefer 



OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 301 

to move about and go in pursuit rather than lie in 
ambush. 

I was once shooting snipe in Indiana on some excel- 
lent ground owned by a club of Chicago gentlemen, 
and observed four of the larger yellow-legs on a 
muddy bar at the upper end of a diminutive island in 
a shallow prairie river. I waded to the lower end of 
the island and moved forward — slowly until within 
easy range of the birds, and not caring much whether 
I bagged them or not, I determined to try for three 
with two barrels (on the wing, of course). As they 
arose, two of the birds flew toward each other, and 
waiting until they were close together, I killed them 
both and shot a third bird with the remaining barrel. 
The survivor went off rapidly, whistling loudly ; but 
when I whistled to him he missed his companions, and 
returning, passed within range, and firing a little ahead 
of him, I tumbled him into the river. The birds were 
unusually fine, large specimens and looked well in the 
bag of snipe. 

The fishy flavor of these birds when taken on the 
coast is not so apparent in the Western birds, but 
I do not care much for them in the field or on the 
table. They are not difficult marks. They have al- 
ways brought good prices in the markets, are always 
taken by sportsmen, and are properly ranked with 
the shore birds of the second class, giving first place 
always to the woodcock, snipe, and upland plover. 

VII. — THE LESSER YELLOW-LEGS 

All that has been said of the greater yellow-legs 
applies to the lesser, which is much more abundant 
everywhere. I have seen these birds in the West often 



302 SHORE BIRDS 

too tame to need decoys, and on several occasions I 
have sliot at thcni until the s^un became hot, and have 
made large bags without concealment of any kind. 

One day when shooting sharp-tailed grouse, as I ap- 
proached Fort Totten, where I was visiting an army 
officer, I saw an immense number of these birds about 
the muddy margin of a shaUow alkaline lake. As 
those nearest took wing-, I tired, killing a half-dozen or 
more with my two barrels. The many flocks about 
the lake all arose at the report of the gun, and the air 
was full of yellow-legs, many wheeling past or over- 
head, and circling about, often alighting again within 
range. I was in excellent practice, and shot rapidly, 
making few misses. My setter kept busy for a time 
retrieving, and often brought several birds at once. I 
was entirely too fast for him, however, and brought 
down ten or a dozen birds while he retrieved one. 
After galloping about in the mud in pursuit of a 
wounded bird with another in his mouth, he became 
disgusted with the sport and retired to the grass and 
declined to retrieve more. It occurred to me that I 
had all that could be used at the garrison, and I ceased 
firing, while there were still many birds flying about 
within range. I gathered several dozen birds which 
fell where the walking was good, but had to abandon 
as many more which fell in the deep mud, the dog 
positively refusing to be a party to such slaughter. 

Although I often saw these birds very abundant, I 
did not again shoot at them, since they were not as de- 
sirable as the grouse, mallards, teal, gad walls, spoon- 
bills, and other ducks, and the snipe which were often 
flushed about the margins of the ponds. 



OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 303 

VIII. — TIIK WILLKT 

There are two willets so much alike as easily to be 
mistaken. The Eastern variety is found from the At- 
lantic westward to the Mississippi. The Western va- 
riety inhabits the western portion of North America 
to the Mississippi. The latter bird, according to the 
ornithologists, is a little larger and somewhat grayer. 
Elliot says that in winter the two forms cannot be 
distinguished from each other, save possibly by the 
longer bill of the Western variety, " though this is not 
always reliable." As I have had occasion to remark, 
the sportsmen are not much in sympathy with ornitho- 
logical variety-makers, especially when the differences 
are slight. From the sportsman's point of view the 
Eastern and Western willet are the same. There is 
really a much greater difference in the gunners than 
in the game, and the willets and other slightly shaded 
varieties of game birds, glancing back at their human 
enemies, might with more propriety classify them as 
blondes, brunettes, or red-heads. 

The two willets are found often in the same locality. 
They are among the largest and best of the bay birds. 
Second in size only to the godwits and curlews, their 
length is about sixteen inches. 

They are, when pursued at all, very wild and wary 
and difficult to approach. They are more often shot 
when flying past the decoys set out for the other 
waders, and do not come to the decoys nearly so well 
as many of the others. The name is derived from the 
noisy call of the bird. It is often called " pil willet." 



304 SHORE BIRDS 

IX. — THE LONG-BILLED CURLEW 

This bird is the giant among waders. It is nearly 
three times as large as the Wilson's snipe. The long- 
billed curlew fly in an angular order, like the wild 
geese, a single bird at the point of the angle leading. 
Their loud, shrill cries are well imitated by the profes- 
sional bay-men and some sportsmen, and they come 
readily to the decoys when the call is well imitated. 
As they come flapping up or sail on extended wings 
they present a large, easy mark similar to ducks hover- 
ing over decoys, but far easier. Elliot describes kill- 
ing a pair of these birds from a flock passing overhead, 
when the others returned to their wounded compan- 
ions, flying over and around them, and says repeated 
discharges failed for a time to drive the unwounded 
away. The flesh has the same sedgy or fishy taste 
when these birds are taken along shore, but is better 
when they are shot on the Western prairies. 

X.— THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW 

The Hudsonian curlew, popularly known as the Jack 
curlew, nests in the far North and returns to the States 
with the other waders toward the end of summer. It 
is not numerous anywhere and is the least abundant of 
our curlews. It has many local names, such as crooked- 
bill marlin, whimbrel, horsefoot-marlin, etc. They are 
fairly good to eat and are always shot b}^ sportsmen 
when the opportunity is presented, as it now rarely is. 
Elliot says the birds were once abundant in New 
Jersey. 



OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 305 

XL— THE ESKIMO CURLEW 

This is the smallest but most abundant of the curlews. 
Its bill, like the others, is long and curved downward. 
It is much like the Hudsonian, only smaller, the length 
of the former being seventeen inches and of the latter 
about thirteen inches — the length of the woodcock, it 
will be remembered, is nine and a half to ten inches. 

The Eskimo curlew, when migrating in the spring 
and early autumn, are found in immense numbers on 
favorite feeding grounds in the Missouri region. Dr. 
Coues saw numerous flocks containing fifty to several 
hundred birds on the prairies along the road between 
Fort Randall and Yankton. They were scattered 
everywhere, dotting the prairie with the Bartramian 
sandpipers and golden plovers in large loose flocks, 
which, as they fed, kept up a continuous low piping 
noise as if conversing with each other. 

They respond to the whistle and come well to de- 
coys. They are rapid flyers, but fly so closely together 
that it is possible to kill quite a number at a shot. The 
smaller flocks decoy better than the larger. They are 
excellent table birds when found on the Western 
prairies, since, like the Bartramian sandpiper, they are 
fond of grasshoppers, which, as we have observed, are 
excellent food, giving even to the sage-grouse a fine 
flavor. They also eat berries and small snails. They 
are more abundant in the West than on the coast. 

XIL — THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER 

I have no hesitation in admitting the pectoral sand- 
piper to my list of game. Although much smaller 



3o6 SHORE BIRDS 

than the other wading birds excepting the dunlin, he 
is a good mark and is very good to eat. He feeds in 
the salt meadows, lies to the dog, and can be walked 
up and flushed like upland birds, a game-like quality 
sufficient to admit him to the list. Audubon pro- 
nounces his flesh juicy and well-flavored. When pro- 
cured late in the season, he says, " I think it superior 
to any of our shore birds, and I have partaken of it 
when I have thought it equal to any of our upland 
game." 

These sandpipers do not associate much in flocks 
like the others. They are found scattered about feed- 
ing upon the meadows singly or in pairs. They are 
not very wild birds, and when approached arise and 
fly but a short distance, uttering a single " tweet." 
They sometimes, when much startled, spring quickly 
with loud repeated cries, and make off in a zigzag 
course much like the common snipe. 

I have had considerable sport with these birds on 
the salt meadows walking them up without a dog, and 
on several occasions I have made a good bag of them 
with a few of the other varieties. No. lo is the proper 
shot, since they are small marks, and the shot is usually 
at close range. 

These birds are met with in the interior as well as 
along the coast. Elliot observes that they do not seem 
to go southward by way of the coast line of California, 
probably migrating inland to Central America and so 
onward to Chili by way of the shore. 



XLIV 

THE PLOVERS 

THERE are, including the European golden plover, 
an occasional visitor, and several other extra limit- 
al birds, fifteen plover on the check-list of North Ameri- 
can birds. Most of these birds (although it is lawful 
everywhere to shoot them at certain seasons) are unde- 
sirable as marks, on account of their size, and their flesh 
is not sufficiently good to warrant the killing. I would 
strongly urge sportsmen to spare the ring-plover, the 
little ring, the piping, the snowy, and semi-palmated 
plover and the others — even the familiar kill-deer, 
which I must confess has more than once called for a 
shot from my gun as he sailed overhead uttering the 
shrill whistle which gave him his name. 

The plovers are distinguished from the snipes and 
sandpipers by their bill, which is more pigeon-shaped. 
The bill of the snipes and sandpipers is longer and 
slimmer. We have observed that the best of all the 
plovers of the sportsmen is not a plover but a sand- 
piper. 

Of the true plovers, the only birds worthy of the 
sportsman's attention are the American golden plover 
and the black-bellied plover, the European golden 
plover, a rare visitor ; the Pacific golden plover, which 
is, from the sportsman's point of view, the same as the 
American golden plover, and the mountain plover. 
Of these in their order. 

307 



3oS SHORE BIRDS 

THE GOLDEN PLOVER 

The golden plover, {aniiliarlv known in the West as 
golden back and bnll-head, takes its name from the 
yellow or golden dots on its back. It is a tine large 
bird witli black breast and head ; the forehead white 
and a white stripe over the eve. The npper parts are 
brownisli black, beautifvdlv mottled with yellow and 
white. The golden dots render it unmistakable. 

Shortlv after the arrival of the snipe, in the spring, 
one mavlook for the golden plover. The date of their 
arrival in the Northern States is dependent upon the 
weather. Not a bird will be found until the frost is 
well out of the ground. Many birds usuallv arrive in 
April, but, as Mr. Hough savs, the hrst of Mav can 
roughly be called their date. By the last of that 
month they have departed for their breeding grounds 
in British America and north to the Arctic shores. 
Before thev have left us thev have paired, and it is 
without doubt wrong to shoot them in the spring, and 
the shooting at this time should be prohibited by 
legislation. I have had excellent sport with these 
birds when snipe shooting in the spring on the West- 
ern prairies, when the birds were so abundant as to 
seem to need no legislation ; but thev come each year 
in greatly diminished numbers, and are seen no more 
to-day in some places where the}' were very abundant 
a few years ago. The salvation of this bird depends 
upon the stopping of the spring shooting. The plover 
return to the United States the last of August or dur- 
ing September. They are found in flocks, often con- 
taining manv birds, and as thev run about on the 



THE PLOVERS 309 

prairie, they appear as large as pigeons (larger than 
they are), and they are called prairie pigeons in some 
localities. This name is, however, more often applied 
to the field plover or sandpiper. 

The golden plover is shot by the bay-men and 
sportsmen over decoys, as it travels north and south 
along the coast, and it responds w^eli to an imitation of 
its whistle, which Mr. Hough has attempted to give 
phonetically as a keen " Whit! wheet — wheet — whit! " 
There are plover calls on the market which give a 
fair imitation of their whistle, but the market gunners 
do not rely on these. 

Elliot says the golden plover goes mostly by the sea- 
coast in its migrations; or, if the weather be favorable, 
far out at sea, making but few stops in the long jour- 
ney. I have never seen any such numbers about the 
coast as I have observed on the Western prairies, and 
I am quite satisfied that fully as many and in fact 
more birds pass inland across the continent. 

In Illinois and Indiana a few years ago the number 
of plovers to be seen on the prairies was truly re- 
markable. I have seen flocks containing hundreds of 
birds scattered about in every direction and flying 
from one feeding ground to another. 

Plover shooting over decoys is still a favorite amuse- 
ment with many Western sportsmen. It is almost im- 
possible to stalk them without the aid of a horse or 
vehicle. I have repeatedl}^, Avhen snipe shooting, at- 
tempted to walk near a flock of these birds when they 
appeared not very wild, but notwithstanding I resorted 
to the artifice of seeming to pass them, as one would 
drive for them in a vehicle, they always took wing just 



3IO SHORE BIRDS 

before I came within range and seemed to estimate the 
distance to a nicety, continuing to run about and feed 
until the last safe moment. 

The sportsman going out to shoot golden plover 
should observe, like the duck shooter, what the birds 
are doing. Upon a careful surve}^ of the ground it 
will be apparent often that the birds are moving in 
certain directions, flying from one feeding ground to 
another and passing over certain fields, and it is on 
the line of flight or on some favorite feeding spot 
that the decoys should be set out. The decoys may 
be had at the gun stores and are usually made of wood 
or tin, with a peg to stand them on in the mud ; the 
dead birds can be used to advantage, standing them 
up among the decoys by means of sticks, as the duck 
shooter often sets up his ducks. A few sticks carried 
in the shooting-coat for this purpose will be found use- 
ful on the prairie where it is impossible to find any. 

I have more often shot these plovers from a blind, 
getting under their line of flight and without decoys, 
but much larger bags can be made with decoys — espe- 
cially if the sportsman is skilful in calling or whistling 
the birds. 

I was once shooting snipe in Northern Indiana and 
finding but few birds, I decided to devote the day to 
the golden plover, which were exceedingly abundant, 
flock after flock crossing the same field in rapid suc- 
cession. Taking my stand at a fence with a few 
bushes and small trees as a blind, I ordered the dogs 
down and soon had some rapid shooting. 

The flocks were not large and at no time did I kill 
many birds at a shot, but I repeatedly killed two or 



THE PLOVERS 311 

three, more often one, or one with each barrel, and it 
was not long before I had a very fine bag of birds. 
My shooting companions, when we met at the vil- 
lage hotel, expressed surprise that I should have so 
many plover. They knew I had no decoys and was 
a poor hand at calling. They, too, had tried for the 
birds all day with no success, having endeavored to 
stalk them. When I explained my method of letting 
the birds come to me on their line of flight, they 
determined to try it, and had no trouble in getting 
some excellent shooting. 

Upon another occasion, when out for snipe, I ob- 
served as I walked down a road that the plover were 
crossing it at a certain point, and stopping in the fence 
corner with little concealment I had some very good 
shooting. 

In Texas and some of the other prairie States these 
birds are shot by stalking them in a vehicle or on horse- 
back in the same way already described for taking the 
upland plover or Bartramian sandpiper. On the vast 
prairies where there are few fences this is very good 
sport, but a horse which can jump a wire fence is bet- 
ter than a vehicle, which must often necessarily make 
a long detour to follow the birds to an adjoining field. 

Since I have joined the ranks of those opposed to 
spring shooting I do not expect again to shoot much at 
plover. In September, the prairie-grouse, the snipe, 
the wood-duck, and teal are more inviting, and I then 
have no time to learn to whistle the golden plover or 
study the setting of the decoys. 

Hough well says that to be successful you must be 
an expert plover-shooter, and to be an expert you must 



312 SHORE BIRDS 

call the birds. This requires constant practice in the 
field, and the proficiency with which one can execute 
the call is about the measure of his success at golden- 
plover shooting-. It is the easiest thing in the world to 
make a mistake in setting out the decoys which shall 
cost you half your birds. You do not want the wind 
to blow across your blind to the decoys or across the 
decoys toward your blind. The decoys must be at 
one side of the blind. Suppose the wind is blowing 
from the east to the west, you put out your decoys to 
the north of your blind and not to the east or west. 
The decoys should be set out in a longish line, rather 
wedge-shaped, point down the wind and all at easy 
gun-range — not too close. Hearing the call the birds 
swing, cross over and come up wind to alight among 
the decoys. 

The same writer advises the sportsman not to fire at 
the leading birds, but at the " middle-oblique " of the 
flock, when the charge will rake the flock. As the 
remnant double up, he says, the second barrel held till 
the right time goes far toward completing the work. 
At the sound of his deceitful whistle the birds will 
often return again to the decoys, and twenty, thirty, or 
forty birds may fall to your gun from one flock. If 
you get only six or eight, your friend and possible com- 
panion, the market-gunner, would laugh at you. Two 
hundred in a day, i,ooo in a week — you can do this in 
Northern Illinois even to-day if you have the natural 
heart for butchery. 

I have already advised the shooting for single birds 
when shooting at a flock of bay birds, and the same 
shot should be made by sportsmen at golden plover 



THE PLOVERS 313 

on the prairie. I must admit the pot-shot where the 
birds are thickest is most tempting to a novice ; but it 
is butchery like this which causes the birds to vanish 
from localities where they were most abundant. 

The proper gun is the twelve-gauge loaded with No. 
8 shot, or No. 7 if the birds are wild. I would advise 
the taking of shells loaded with both numbers, and a 
few with No. 6 for a passing teal or wood-duck. 

A friend with whom I used to shoot snipe and plover 
once saw a market-gunner arise from his blind and 
throw his felt hat at a large flock before firing. The 
birds bunched as they wheeled in a fright, mistaking 
the hat (in the opinion of the market-gunner) for a 
hawk, and an immense number was killed with two 
barrels. 

The European golden plover is very similar to the 
American ; so closely does it resemble it in fact that 
the birds might be mistaken easily. Dr. Coues gives 
it as his opinion that our golden plover may always be 
distinguished by the color of the lining of the wings, 
which is pure white in the European and ashy-gray in 
the American species. The Pacific golden plover has 
the same habits and closely resembles the American 
golden plover. The only difference is its smaller size 
and "more golden hue." With such slight variations 
the sportsman has nothing to do. 

THE BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 

This variety is not infrequently mistaken for the 
golden plover, but can easily be distinguished, as Elliot 
says, at all ages by its having the axillary plumes (the 
long feathers growing from the armpit and seen under- 



314 SHORE BIRDS 

neath the wing) black ; whereas, in the other species, 
these are white. This bird arrives at the same time 
with the golden plover, passing northward in May 
and returning in August or September. Elliot says 
that these birds are more numerous along the sea- 
coasts, but this seems to me to be incredible, since there 
are legions of them at times in Kansas, Nebraska, and 
the Dakotas.* 

Along the coasts the birds feed in the salt marshes 
and about the fiats and ponds, their food being insects 
and shell-fish, which imparts the fish}' flavor to their 
flesh. On the Western uplands, where they feed on 
grasshoppers, these birds are excellent for the table. 

These birds come well to the decoys and are shot 
with the golden plover, and that which was said with 
reference to the shooting of the golden plover applies 
equally well to them. 

THE MOUNTAIN PLOVER 

This bird is a true prairie plover, never resorting to 
the beach, but dwelling upon the plains away from the 
water, " preferring the grassy districts " ; and is some- 
times found in sterile tracts covered with sage-brush. 
It is very numerous in New Mexico and Arizona and 
Southern California. It feeds upon insects, such as 
grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, ticks, and possibly 
worms, and is often fat and in fine condition. This 
bird presents a fair mark and is good to eat, and it 
may be considered game, but it is of little importance, 
since it is found in localities where much better birds 
are abundant. 

The other plovers, of no importance to sportsmen, 

* See Appendix, No. 95. 



THE PLOVERS 315 

excepting to those who shoot only on beaches where 
everything larger has about been exterminated, are 
the ring-necks or semi-palmated plovers, small migra- 
tory birds which are found usually on the sandy shores, 
living on minute insects and shell-fish, and in the in- 
terior about the margins of ponds and rivers. They 
run away frequently as one approaches, or fly for a 
short distance and at once begin feeding again in a 
most unsuspicious way. The European ring-neck and 
the little ring-plover are European species. The Wil- 
son's plover is similar to the semi-palmated, and is 
found on both coasts from Long Island and California 
south. The piping plover is another shore bird some- 
what more wary. It runs with great rapidity and flics 
short distances. When fat it is fairly good to eat. I 
have shot them with the others for want of something 
better to do, but should not regret seeing them pro- 
tected at all times by law. The belted piper and the 
snowy plover are small varieties found in the West, 
the latter in the far West, from Salt Lake to the 
Pacific, and is common on the sea-coast of California. 



XLV 

OTHER VARIETIES OF SHORE BIRDS 

THERE are twelve species of avocets and stilts 
throughout the world. But two are found in 
North America — the black-necked stilt and the Ameri- 
can avocet. 

Avocets and stilts are easily distinguished by their 
great size, long legs, and bills which curve slightly up- 
ward, and which suggested the technical name {Rectir- 
virostrd). The legs of the stilt are a rosy lake, or flesh 
color. The legs of the avocet are pale blue. 

AMERICAN AVOCET 

The avocets are fairly abundant in the West, but are 
rare birds in the Eastern States. They are occasion- 
ally found in the markets with other game from the 
Mississippi valley. I have observed them on the 
plains when shooting sharp-tailed grouse. On one 
occasion before daybreak I drove out from Fort Tot- 
ten, N. D., to a small lake which was much frequented 
by geese, brant, and many varieties of ducks. The 
plain was some feet higher than the water and bluffed 
down to a muddy beach. When the first light of day 
was showing in the east I had taken my position just 
above the muddy flat, and the gabbling and quacking 
below promised an excellent shot ; but, before it was 
light enough to shoot, all of the geese and ducks flew 

316 



OTHER VARIETIES 317 

off with a roar of wings and a noisy dripping of water. 
I remained, hoping some of the ducks would soon re- 
turn, and as it became light I observed an immense 
number of shore birds at the edge of the water. There 
were tattlers, the big and little yellow-legs, sandpipers, 
plovers of all sizes, and among them were several avo- 
cets, easily distinguished by their large size. Like 
feathered giants they stalked about among the smaller 
birds. 

I could easily have killed a number, but I had heavy 
loads in the gun and was really out for geese, so did 
not disturb them at their breakfast. I remained some 
time to observe them, and then slipped down the bank 
to arrange a blind nearer the water ; the avocets flew 
out over the lake a short distance, and returning, 
alighted near by, elevated their wings for a moment 
and went to feeding again. It was a warm Indian 
summer day, the sun shone bright on the placid waters 
and the geese and ducks did not move about much. 
My companion went to sleep in his blind, and a pair of 
mallards which settled to his decoys were undisturbed 
until I fired a long shot at them from my ambush. 
My companion jumped up in time to see the mallards 
depart, and the shore birds whistled and peeped, and 
ran or flew short distances, soon to return to their 
favorite feeding spots. I shot a few ducks during 
the day, but did not point the gun at the shore birds. 
How different the conditions East and West ! How 
long would a big avocet remain unmolested near a 
blind on the Atlantic Coast ? 

The avocets are good swimmers, and when wounded 
often take to the water. The flesh is fairl}' good, about 



3i8 SHORE BIRDS 

equal to that of the other shore birds of the second 
class, such as the tattlers. 

THE BLACK-NECKED STILT 

This bird evidently was named for its legs. Like 
the avocets, the stilts are more abundant in the West 
than in the Eastern States. Stilts and avocets are 
often seen feeding together. 

The flight of the stilt is swift and easil)^ maintained, 
and in its progress it exhibits " alternately the upper 
and under side of the body, like many other species of 
the LiniicoUe, affording a pleasing contrast from the 
black of the back to the pure white of the under parts, 
brightened by the long lake-red legs extending be- 
neath and beyond the tail." 

Stilts are usually found about the margins of bays 
and ponds or streams; wherever they are found in any 
numbers there seem to be many other waders, and 
most likely some of the avocets. I have seen them only 
in the West, where they were by comparison of no im- 
portance to a sportsman. Their flesh is about equal to 
that of the others whose companv they keep. 

THE PHALAROPES 

There are three American phalaropes : the red 
phalarope, the Northern phalarope and the Wilson's 
phalarope. 

The name is of Greek derivation and means " coot- 
foot." The feet of the phalaropes are said to resemble 
those of the coot. 

The two birds first mentioned are about the size of 
the kill-deer plover. The Wilson's phalarope is a little 



OTHER VARIETIES 319 

larger, the female measuring nine and a half to ten 
inches, and being a trifle larger always than the male. 
All phalaropes have this striking difference from other 
game — the females are not only the larger and hand- 
somer birds, but " do the courting while the male per- 
forms most of the duties of incubation, thus affording 
an instance of the exercise of * woman's rights ' in the 
fullest degree." The female goes through all the 
motions of love-making and pursues the male about as 
he runs or flies from point to point, and, finally having 
compelled his attention, the nest is constructed, the 
eggs are laid and the male is left to sit upon them, 
while the female swims about upon the surface of the 
water and has the general good time which the male 
of other birds is supposed to have while the female is 
engaged in incubation. 

The red phalarope and the Northern phalarope 
inhabit the northern portions of both hemispheres, 
migrating southward in the winter; the Wilson's pha- 
larope is distinctly a bird of the New World, and is said 
to be more of an inland species than the others, being 
very common in the Mississippi valley. The pha- 
laropes are all good swimmers, and are often seen on 
the water. 

The phalaropes fly swiftly in flocks, and it is not a 
difficult matter to kill a number at a shot. The gun 
should be held well ahead when the flock is passing at 
a distance. No. 8 shot is the proper size. 

The Wilson's phalarope does not go as far north as 
the others, and is said to breed in Northern Illinois, 
Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Michigan, 
and Oregon. It is recorded as a summer resident in 



320 SHORE BIRDS 

Northern Indiana and in Western Kansas. Nelson 
says it is the most common species in Northern Illinois, 
frequenting grassy marshes and low prairies, and is 
not exceeded in number even by the ever-present 
spotted sandpiper. While it was one of the most com- 
mon birds in the Calumet region it is now becoming 
scarce. 

There is little or nothing in the books about phala- 
ropes as objects of pursuit or as food. A recent writer 
in a magazine says, " Although these birds do not come 
distinctly within the limits of my definition of game, I 
never saw a sportsman who would not shoot one, and 
should consider him lacking in mental capacity if he 
did not." This may all be well enough on the Massa- 
chusetts coast, but it is not so in Dakota, where the 
ducks and geese are sufficiently abundant to call forth 
the humorous statement in a local paper that their 
shadows interfered with the growth of the crops. 

For my part I should be willing to see these pretty 
little birds legally excluded from the game list and 
left to pursue their strange courtship and rear their 
young beside the ponds, and to swim about on the 
water and feed alonsf the shores. 



BOOK IV 

CRANES, RAILS, AND REED BIRDS, 
WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 



XLVI 

THE CRANES 

THERE are two common varieties of crane in 
America, the white or whooping crane and the 
brown or sand-hill crane, and a smaller crane known 
as the little brown crane, which is very similar to the 
sand-hill. They are all very wild and wary birds, most 
difficult to stalk, but come well to decoys set out on 
their feeding grounds. 

An occasional crane is shot by a sportsman from his 
duck-blind, but there are a few places where stands of 
decoys are kept for these birds. Mr. Sidney South- 
wick, writing for Recreation, says : " The sand-hill or 
gray crane is fast coming into favor as a game bird on 
the big prairies of the Northwest. Indeed it already 
takes rank in many localities as the equal of the wild 
goose, not only as a game bird, delighting the eye and 
the heart of the sportsman, but also as a table delicacy 
of excellent flavor. In October they come down upon 
the wheat and corn fields of Minnesota, Dakota, North- 
ern Iowa, and Nebraska in immense droves. Indeed 
they frequently alight in the fields of unhusked corn in 
such destructive throngs that the farmer is compelled 
to go forth musket in hand to the defence of his crops. 
The sportsman, however, has no complaint to offer at 
this state of affairs, and he is a far more dangerous 

323 



324 THE CRANES 

enemy to the sand-hill than is the blustering crop- 
owner." 

For my part I do not care much for this sport. I 
have only seen the cranes in sufficient numbers to make 
it worth while to go in pursuit of them on ground 
where the best varieties of ducks were abundant, and 
the ducks are better marks to test one's skill and vastly 
better eating. 

The cranes are large birds, and, as they come flapping 
up to the decoys or sail overhead, seem to be going 
much slower than they really are. I do not regard 
them as difficult marks, but the sportsman must hold 
well ahead of a passing bird or he will certainly shoot 
behind him. 

I have never tried but once to stalk the sand-hill 
crane. Upon that occasion we were driving on the 
plains, when we observed a flock of cranes feeding 
upon a marshy tract a long distance away. I stopped 
the driver (a Sioux Indian) and we held a consultation 
as to the propriety of stalking them. The Indian was 
quite anxious to try the shot, and asked for a gun and 
permission to do so. I was desirous of seeing him un- 
dertake their approach and was confident of his suc- 
cess, but never having shot a crane I finally decided to 
try for the shot. Putting a tall bunch of grass or 
rushes between me and the birds, I worked carefully 
toward them. They took flight at long range, but the 
heavy charge I sent after them brought one down with 
a broken wing. It fell far out on the marsh, which was 
overgrown with tall rushes, and since I had no dog I 
was unable to recover it. 

Mr. Wells, writing for Forest and Stream, says that 



THE CRANES 325 

he once stalked a flock of white crane on the Platte, 
using a cow as a screen to get within range. 

The sand-hill crane is abundant in the autumn and 
winter in California, but not nearly so much so as in 
former years. Many are shot on the prairies and sold 
in the San Francisco markets. Dr. Maberry says that 
they are there highly esteemed as an article of food. 

It is well for the sportsman to remember that the 
crane will show fight when wounded, and is quite a 
formidable antagonist. There are many instances on 
record when they have attacked both man and dog, 
and great care should be exercised in approaching 
them. The quick thrust from the long, sharp bill may 
cause an ugly wound or put out an eye. It is well to 
give a wounded crane the second barrel. 

The white crane is found in Texas and Florida, and 
is said to be seen occasionally up the coast as far as 
the Middle States. 

Dr. Coues says : " This tall and stately white bird, of 
the most imposing appearance of any in this country, I 
have only seen on the broad prairies or soaring on 
motionless pinion in spiral curves high overhead. Its 
immense stature is sometimes singularly exaggerated 
by that quality of the prairie air which magnifies dis- 
tant objects on the horizon, transforming sometimes a 
weed into a man or making a wild turkey excite suspi- 
cion of a buffalo. The most fabulous accounts of a 
crane's size might readily arise without intentional de- 
ception. I have known a person to mistake a sand-hill 
crane for one of his stray mules and go in search ; and 
another enthusiastic teamster once declared that some 
he saw were ' bigger than his mule team.' Once while 



326 THE CRANES 

antclopc-shootini^ on the piairie my companion — a 
good liunter — and myself saw what we took to be an 
antelope standing quietly feeding with his broad white 
stern toward us and only about five hundred yards off. 
We attempted for at least fifteen minutes to flag the 
creature up to us, waving a handkerchief on a ramrod 
in the most approved style. This proving unavailing, 
my friend proceeded to stalk the game, and crawled on 
his belly for about half the distance before the ' ante- 
lope ' unfolded his broad black-tipped wings and 
flapped off, revealed at length as a whooping crane." 

I was once shooting mallard on the margin of a 
Western lake, with an army officer. The day was 
warm and bright, and, after a short morning flight, the 
ducks ceased to move about, and we retired to a slight 
elevation, ale our luncheon, and reclined in the grass 
to smoke our pipes and tell tales of shooting game of 
all sorts. A large flock of white cranes arose from the 
marsh and flew directly toward us, ascending, however, 
as they came, far beyond our range. When quite 
overhead, in the azure sky, their white feathers gleam- 
ing in the sunlight, they proceeded to go through 
many graceful evolutions, flying about in a circle, 
forming sides and crossing over and back and dancing 
in mid-air to their own loud music. We were much 
entertained by their performance, and observed them 
until the exhibition was ended and they continued 
their flight until quite out of sight. 

I have upon other occasions observed these birds 
feeding about the margins of rivers and ponds, and 
have tried a long shot at them but never with success. 



XLVII 

THE RAILS AND REKD BIRDS 

THE rails arc related, ornithologically, to the 
cranes. There is a decided difference from the 
sportsman's point of view. Cranes, as we have ob- 
served, are the most majestic and stately of our birds, 
wary and difficult to approach at all times. The rails, 
on the other hand, are most of them diminutive in 
size, and all of them arise but a few feet from the gun, 
literally fluttering out of the grass and presenting 
marks so easy as to be uninteresting. 

The clapper-rail and the king-rail are the two 
largest birds ; the clapper inhabits the salt marshes, 
being rarely seen in the interior. The king-rail fre- 
quents the fresh-water marshes. Two other rails, the 
Carolina, or sora, and the Virginia rail, are worthy of 
the sportsman's attention. These are not much larger 
than sparrows. The rest of the rails might well be 
spared on account of their insignificance. 

The Carolina, or sora, is the most abundant, and 
thousands are found scattered about, feeding in the 
reeds, rushes, and wild rice of tide-waters and in the 
interior. They come in immense numbers to the 
marshes about western rivers and lakes, and T have 
shot many of them on the grounds now owned by the 
Chicago clubs, and at the St. Clair flats, and at many 
other places in the East and West. 

The clapper-rail and the king-rail are much less 

327 



328 TIIH RAILS AND REED BIRDS 

abundant, and arc usually found at long intervals on 
the same grounds frequented by the smaller varieties. 
A bag of one hundred or more of the smaller birds is 
not uncommon in a day, or on one tide, but I doubt if 
anyone ever made a bag of any size of the larger 
birds. I have never killed many of the larger birds 
in a day. 

All the rails have long, slim bodies, and seem to be 
built especially to move quickly through the rushes 
and wild rice where they are always found. They 
run with remarkable rapidity, and it is difficult to put 
thciu u|). The rails have short, rounded wings and fly 
with an apparent effort just above the tall reeds, often 
dropping back into them after going but a few yards. 
So labored is their flight that it is not easy to under- 
stand how they make their long migration north and 
south. That they are capable of a long-sustained 
flight is evidenced by their alighting on ships miles 
from the land. 

The rails are the easiest of all marks that fly from 
the sportsman's gun. 

The season for rail shooting is the earl)' autumn. 
The method of pursuit is everywhere the same. The 
sportsman takes his stand in a light, flat-bottomed 
boat, which is propelled through the rushes by a punter 
with a long pole. The start, on tide-water, is made as 
soon as the water is high enough to float the boat in 
the wild rice, and as the boat glides along the birds 
are driven into the air at short range, and since they 
are usually very abundant the shooting is very rapid. 

Dr. Lewis, Avho wrote of this sport when only muz- 
zle-loading guns were used, advised the taking of two 



THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 329 

guns, since it was necessary to load and fire so rapidly 
that the gun soon became too hot to load and handle 
without danger. 

Rail shooting is a lazy sport compared to the tramp 
across fields, but there is a charm about the boat-ride 
through the tall, waving, yellow rice, down long av- 
enues of open water and across through the reeds, 
where the punter earns his wages driving the boat and 
retrieving the birds. The vast stretches of yellow rice 
harmonize well with the bluest skies and fleecy clouds 
reflected in the water-ways. The shooting is always 
rapid. Many double shots are made, and when one 
fairly has his " sea-legs" on there are few misses. 

When I first began to shoot rails I went out with a 
youthful companion, and we took turns punting the 
boat and shooting the birds. I quite enjoyed the 
cruising about in the fresh, salt air, and, not caring 
much for the game, willingly took my turn at the pole. 
An occasional shot at a duck added interest to the 
sport, and I would advise the rail shooter always to 
have a few shells in a convenient pocket ready for in- 
stant use on the larger game. The larger rails are 
easily killed with the small shot (No. 10, or smaller) 
used on the soras. Since the shots are all at short 
range a half-load of powder will be sufficient and less 
likely to damage other shooters who may be moving 
about over the same ground. 

Dr. Lewis was very fond of this sport, and has given 
us records of large bags containing hundreds of birds 
made on one tide. As soon as the water subsides suf- 
ficiently to prevent the moving of the boat the sport is 
of course at an end. 



330 THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 

In the West, the shooting, when it is practised at all, 
is the same. The start and finish, of course, are not 
dependent upon the tide, but we may go at any time 
where the water is sufficient to float a boat. 

I was once shooting ducks with a friend in the 
marshes in Northern Indiana. It was in September, 
and the migrating ducks had not come from the North 
and tlie h)cal ducks were quite wild from much shoot- 
ing. One day when they were not flying well I went 
off to some good snipe grounds, and my companion 
instructed his punter to move him about in the wild 
rice while he shot at the rails. Although most of his 
shot was too large he made a bag of about one hun- 
dred birds in a very few hours' shooting. I have no 
doubt I could have killed a thousand birds on many 
Western marshes if the daylight had been long enough 
and I had cared to do so. 

Success does not usually attend t.he sportsman who 
tries for the rails afoot. They run so rapidly through 
the reeds and rice that it is almost impossible to flush 
them. I have shot them along the western prairie 
sloughs when snipe-shooting, walking close to the 
taller grasses in the slough and taking an occasional 
shot as a rail fluttered out. An industrious little span- 
iel will flush some birds where the ground is such that 
he can move rapidly. 

There are thousands of the small rails in the rushes 
of the St. Clair flats, and I often bagged a few of them, 
driven up b}^ my spaniel, when snipe-shooting. 

Few sportsmen in the West, however, make a prac- 
tice of shooting rails. There are still too many ducks, 
cock, snipe, sandpipers, and plover, to say nothing of 
the upland birds. 



THE RAILS AND REP:i) BIRDS 331 

I have shot an occasional kin^-rail on tlic St. Clair 
flats and on other snipe grounds, but believe I never shot 
more than three or four in a day. I do not rcincmber 
ever having missed one. They are even easier marks 
than the soras, since they are several times as big. 

Rails are excellent marks for young sportsmen to 
begin on. The shots are so numerous that a boy will 
soon learn to handle the gun and gain confidence in his 
ability to shoot at flying marks. Mr. Alford, in a 
clever paper in The Century, some years ago, gave us 
an account of a father giving his boy "a day with the 
rails." 

1 have often, when in a duck-blind, observed the 
rails running about quite near at hand and have seen 
the little soras run out on the lily-pads floating on the 
pond hardly a gun-length from my ambush. 

Rails have been taken in the South at night by the 
light of a torch, the birds being struck down by a 
paddle as they fluttered out of the grass. Eels and 
catfish are said to prey upon the unrecovered dead and 
wounded birds. 

The cry of the rails is a harsh chatter which sug- 
gested the name crake applied to several of the smaller 
species. When alarmed the nearest rails sound their 
creaking cackle, which is soon taken up by all the 
others in the vicinity, and the rattling noise is sounded 
on all sides. The noise sounds something like kek ! 
kek! kek! repeated rapidly. 

When they first arrive the rails are in poor condi- 
tion, but they soon become very fat and are regarded 
as excellent food. Dr. Lewis says they are delicious 
for the table, "in truth we are very partial to this bird, 



332 THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 

and when in good condition prefer it to most other 
kinds of game ; at all events we can eat more rails and 
partake of them more constantly without feeling tired 
of them than any other game bird. They are particu- 
larly tender, rich, juicy, and delicate, and do not clog 
the stomach by quantity or satiate the appetite by daily 
indulgence." 

The king-rail is equally good on the table. I not 
long ago took a lot of them to an excellent cook, and 
he cooked them after I was seated at the table, and I 
must say I have seldom eaten better birds. If they 
would only fly faster and stronger they would be 
game magnificent. 

As the larger birds become scarce the Western sports- 
men will, no doubt, give more attention to these birds, 
and there is a goodly lot of them on all the marshes 
now owned by the duck-clubs. 

The common rail or sora is about the size of a spar- 
row, and is of a dark bluish-gray color, something like 
the common coot or mud-hen. The Virginia rail is 
about the same in size, but is a brown bird marked with 
yellowish gray and black. The king-rail is four or five 
times as large, but is identical in color and markings 
with the Virginia rail. The clapper-rail is about the 
size of the king-rail, but not nearly so good to eat. 
The flesh, notwithstanding all the arts of the maitre de 
cuisine to the contrary, says Dr. Lewis, is unusually 
insipid, dry, and sedgy, and consequently holds out but 
slight inducements to the epicurean sportsman to in- 
terrupt them in their secluded retreats. Descriptions 
of the different rails, including the little black and yel- 
low crakes, will be found below. Their comparative 



THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 333 

size, their pattern and markings, appear in the illus- 
trations. 

THE REED-BIRD 

The reed-bird of the sportsmen is the familiar bob- 
olink, seen in the summer in the northern fields. It 
changes its plumage and assumes an inconspicuous 
dress toward the end of summer, and, going south in 
flocks, appears in the wild-rice marshes where it soon 
becomes very fat. Dr. Lewis praises its flesh and re- 
fers to it as a bird much prized by Philadelphia sports- 
men, but for my part I should like to see it protected 
at all times. It is usually shot with the rails on the 
same grounds. Reed-birds fly in flocks and it is easy 
to knock down a large lot of them at a shot ; it not 
being uncommon, according to Dr. Lewis, to kill four 
or five dozen from a well-directed fire of a double 
gun. Once, he says, thirteen dozen were picked up, 
the result of a raking fire poured into a flock from an 
old fowling-piece that " scattered most confoundedly;" 
but this, he adds, "was by no means the largest number I 
have heard of, but I give this record as well authenti- 
cated, and within the bounds of credence." 

Reed-birds are often taken in nets, and sell well in 
certain markets. 

They are about as good game birds as the smaller 
rails, but the rails are never seen on the lawn and are 
only found in the marshes, while the bobolink not 
only has a cheerful song but is an ornament to the 
fields, and so I say he should be eliminated from the 
list of game by legislation. 



XLVIII 
WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

SOME years ago in a magazine article I referred to 
the fact that Forester had excluded all pigeons and 
doves from his list of game, and remarked that on this 
point we did not agree. Applying the criterion of a 
game bird, that he be everywhere shot by sportsmen, 
and good to eat when shot — the pigeons and doves all 
appear to be game birds. "Swallows," I observed, 
"are excellent marks, for example, but are not used 
as food, but the wild pigeon and wild dove are highly 
prized by epicures, and command good prices in the 
markets. They are, too, swift flyers, and are often 
taken in a most sportsman-like manner in the stubble 
and corn, and from blinds. The shooting of the doves 
in the hemp-fields of Kentucky is a recognized form of 
sport, and I have heard sportsmen say they prefer doves 
to partridges. Audubon says their flesh is remark- 
ably fine, tender, and juicy, especially when the birds 
are fat, and by some is regarded as superior to that of 
either the snipe or the woodcock. That talented 
writer, the late Fred Mather, once took issue with 
me in Sports Afield, insisting that Forester was right 
and that the dove certainly was not a game bird. 
He went so far as to express surprise that I shot swal- 
lows, and made a sentimental defence of the dove. 

334 



WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 335 

In reply I called his attention to the fact that there 
was nothing to warrant his conclusion that I shot swal- 
lows — as a matter of fact, my shooting trips for the 
most part had been to places where the best birds pre- 
vented my using ammunition upon many inferior game 
birds, which would be, however, considered prizes in 
Mr. Mather's neighborhood. A fortiori I had no use 
for swallows. I also called his attention to the fact 
that Forester included the tuneful swan of poetry (the 
bird which he had no doubt observed floating grace- 
fully on many cemetery lakes) in his list of game, and 
urged that (if sentiment were to govern) he first strike 
the swan from the Forester list. President Harrison 
about that time had been shooting swans as the guest 
of one of the clubs at Currituck. 

As a matter of fact the dove is a pugnacious bird not 
deserving of sentiment, and no more tame than the 
partridge or Bob-white is at certain seasons. Although 
doves may occasionally nest in an orchard near the 
house, in the early autumn they are soon seen flocking 
together and feeding on distant fields where the sports- 
man will find it difficult to stalk them, and by no means 
easy to shoot them from ambush. The partridges may 
be found equally tame in summer, even nesting in 
kitchen gardens. I have had excellent sport with both 
pigeons and doves and consider them far better game 
(both as marks and food) than most of the shore birds 
or waders. 

Dogs, both the setters and pointers, recognize the 
doves as game birds and often point them in the corn- 
fields when the weeds are sufficiently high for the 
birds to lie to them. The shooting is then similar to 



336 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

partridge shooting, a little more difficult, since the 
doves arise at a longer range. 

There are in all twelve pigeons and doves in North 
America. They are all good game birds, but most of 
them are comparatively rare, having a limited range, 
like the plumed and crested partridges. 

Only two of these birds are known to Eastern sports- 
men, the passenger pigeon, now extinct, and the Caro- 
lina dove. The band-tailed pigeon is very common on 
the Pacific slope. The others are given but little 
space, since they are only seldom shot by sportsmen, 
and in fact but little is known about some of them. 

THE MOURNING DOVE; CAROLINA DOVE 

There is no more reason for calling the common 
wild dove the Carolina than there is for calling the 
Bob-white the Virginia partridge. This dove is found 
throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. In the summer it is quite tame, like the par- 
tridge. Doves build their nests in the spring about 
the farms, often in the orchard trees quite near the 
house. I had a pair several seasons in an apple-tree 
not fifty feet from my door. On the great plains of 
the West the doves, in the absence of trees, build their 
nests on the ground. 

The dove is marked somewhat like the wild pigeon 
and has the same long wings and tail and flies with 
great rapidity. The noise made is not a whirring, but 
a whistling noise, which is more pronounced in the 
dove than in any other of the game birds, excepting 
possibly, the golden-eye, often called the whistler. It 
is of a gray-blue color above and has a dull red breast. 



WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 337 

the prevailing tints on shoulders and back suggesting 
the familiar term, " dove-color," 

The doves are migratory in the Northern States and 
partly so in the Middle States. They are often seen in 
country roads procuring gravel and dusting them- 
selves. The doves feed on seeds, grain, the smaller 
acorns, and have been accused of consuming peas in a 
garden. They use large quantities of gravel, and a 
knowledge of this need suggests to the sportsman a 
good place for his blind. 

In the late summer and fall the doves resort to the 
stubble and corn-fields in the North and to the hemp- 
lields in the South, and soon become very fat and in 
excellent condition for the table. They are usually 
seen in pairs early in the summer and should on no 
account be shot until September, when they are found 
in small flocks. These combine together into larger 
flocks when they move southward. 

Dr. Coues found this bird abundant in Arizona in 
summer. A friend and shooting companion in Col- 
orado informed me that they often had fine sport with 
the doves in the early autumn, but we were after 
larger game and I did not shoot them there. They 
are shot by Southern sportsmen as they fly in the 
morning and at evening, and great numbers are often 
taken by a single gun. I have had considerable sport 
when they were abundant and comparatively tame, 
walking them up in the stubble and corn-fields, and 
have often seen the dogs point them. 

Doves are usually, however, shot from ambush. In 
the morning and evening they seek the margins of 
streams and ponds to drink, preferring those where 



338 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

the gravel is abundant and when the sportsman finds a 
place much frequented, he may have great sport shoot- 
ing from a blind. 

1 once discovered the doves using a gravel point at 
the lower end of an island which had a few swamp 
willow bushes within easy range of their drinking 
place. Using the willows as my blind I concealed my- 
self with a retriever, and soon the birds began to arrive 
and the shooting commenced. They came in small 
fiocks, more often two or three together, or singly, 
and as they darted over the high river bank and came 
down to the island on swift wings they presented diffi- 
cult marks, and those killed usuall}' fell in the stream 
on either side of the narrow island. The birds kept 
coming from the fields on either side for several hours, 
the shooting was rapid and my retriever was most of 
the time in the water, but he enjoyed it as thoroughly 
as I did. 

The day was fine, it was September, and there was 
a suggestion of frost in the shadows and a genial 
warmth in the sun. At the end of the afternoon I had 
some twenty odd birds, and my friend, whose gun I 
heard banging from a point below me on the river, was 
even more successful and made double my score. The 
doves were fat and tender, having fed almost exclu- 
sively on wheat, and the farmer's wife made for us a 
pot-pie, putting in a dozen birds. Had Forester or 
Fred Mather partaken of the shooting and the pie I 
believe I could have easily induced them to add the 
dove to their list of game birds. 

A few years ago, when shooting partridges on the 
neck of land between the White and Wabash Rivers, I 



WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 339 

found the (loves cjuite abiiiidaiif, and sh(jt many of 
f.lieJH. They were, however, hul an incident l,(j the 
(Aher sport. 1 did not g(j out of my way to slioot 
them, preferring to follow the dogs where the par- 
tridges were plentiful. 

In some of the States the dove is no longer a game 
bird, being pnjtected at all times by laws passed under 
the influence of a sentiment whicli has nothing t(j sus- 
tain it. Our dove does not go about carrying olive 
branches. He is not the color of doves used as a dec- 
oration at funerals and to adorn tombstones. lie is 
no m(jre tame, or friendly, or beautiful than the par- 
tridge who whistles " Bob-white." As a songster he is 
n(jt a success. I prefer the cheery whistle of Bob- 
white to his mournful note. lie flies well, is a diffi- 
cult mark, and is very good to eat. He is, in every 
sense, a game bird, but would be better could he be 
induced to lie more often to the dogs. 

THE I'AS.SENGER.PIGEON. 

The common wild pigeon, the passenger-pigeon of 
the ornithologists, is a beautiful bird of a gray-blue 
color above with a red breast and with bright irides- 
cent feathers on the neck, reflecting red and bronze. 
It has a black bill and feet of lake red. These pigeons 
inhabited the continent of North America from the 
Alantic to the Great Plains, and from the Southern 
States to the sixty-second parallel of north latitude in 
the interior. I made the statement some years ago, in 
writing for a magazine, that the passenger-pigeons 
were not found on the Pacific Coast. The editor soon 
had numerous letters from the Pacific States calling 



340 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

his attention to the fact that I iiad made a great error. 
One of the writers from California spoke of the birds 
as being a nuisance to the farmers. The editor, like 
all editors, liking a controversy, published these let- 
ters and wrote me a friendly note, saying that my arti- 
cles had been remarkably free from error, but that I 
seemed to be in for it this time. I insisted, however, 
that I was right, and the matter was referred to the 
Governor of California, who referred it to the Acad- 
emy of Sciences, and at the last the matter went to the 
Smithsonian Institution, and the editor mailed me a 
letter from that authority which said there were no 
records of the passenger-pigeon on the Pacific Coast. 
To the average person a pigeon is a pigeon, but there 
are great differences in these birds, both in size, mark- 
ings, and habits. I have seen the wild passenger- 
pigeons so numerous for days at a time that they 
literally reached from the southern horizon to the 
northern horizon, like clouds in the sky, and cast sim- 
ilar shadows on the earth. I was reminded of Cooper's 
line, " You may look an hour before you can find a hole 
through them." 

I have had some excellent sport with the wild 
pigeons. The pigeons are extremely fond of beech- 
nuts, and when feeding in the woods of Ohio the flocks 
would fly from one woodland to another and I shot 
them usually from ambush as they passed. 

It was as difficult to estimate the number of the pass- 
ing birds as it is for an astronomer to count the shoot- 
ing stars on an August night. Audubon attempted to 
count the different flocks one day, but after counting 
one hundred and sixty-three flocks in twenty minutes 



WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 341 

he gave it up as impracticable. The air, he says, 
seemed full of pigeons and the light of noonday to be 
obscured as by an eclipse. Multitudes were destroyed, 
and for many days the entire population seemed to eat 
nothing but pigeons. The flapping of the wings 
sounded like distant thunder, Wilson says the noise 
was so great as to terrify their horses and that it was 
difficult for one person to hear another speak. He 
counted ninety nests on one tree. 

The wild pigeons vanished suddenly. There has 
been much speculation as to the cause. The failure of 
their food, which largely consisted of beech nuts, the 
overshooting, the trapping, and the robbing of the 
nests have all been advanced. I am of the opinion 
that the combination of these causes was necessary to 
exterminate the pigeons. The netting and the rob- 
bing of the nests did the most damage. The shooting, 
when every firearm in a neighborhood was out, was 
excessive, and the cutting down of the forests de- 
stroyed vast areas of feeding ground. There are a few 
specimens remaining in captivity. I believe they have 
been bred in confinement. Would that there were 
enough to restore the flocks to the woods ! Such res- 
toration by the Agricultural Department or the State 
game authorities would interest me more than the im- 
portation of foreign birds. 

The wild pigeons were not only used as food, but 
thousands were taken alive to be used in shooting- 
matches. Mr, Stephan, of the Cincinnati Zoological 
Gardens, once saw eight thousand wild pigeons in 
crates at the Dexter Park shooting grounds to be used 
as targets in a live-bird shooting-match. 



342 WILD ru; RONS AND DOVES 

The nets made (i) capture wild pigeons were often 
as larj^c as eighteen by forty feet ; they were placed on 
baited ground and sprung by means of spring-poles. 
As many as sixty dozen were taken often at a single 
throw of the net. Thosi^ taken in the morning and at 
evening, says Lieutenant Sim[ison, were males, and all 
taken near midday were females. The reason was found 
when it was observed that the male and female divided 
the labor ol inrubalion. ^[eantime tlu^ bond^ardnuMit 
oi guns anil weapons, and missiles of all sorts, inelud- 
ing sticks and stones, went on, and it is no wonder the 
race was destro\ed. 

Wild pigeons ll\ with a spei^l almost iiUMcdible. 
Rirds killed in the State of New V(M-k were found to 
C(Mitain the undigested grains of rice that must have 
i)een taken in tlie distant lields ol Cieorgia and South 
Carolina, proving that tlu"v i)assed the intervening 
space in a very lew hours. A single pigeon, at full 
si>eed. passing a blind, was a more ilitVicult mark than 
a wild duck. As in duck-shooting, a number wcm'c 
tifti'u kilUnl from a lh)ck with the use ol both barrels. 

I shot jugetxis for several years every autumn, or 
late in the summei\ in Ni>rthern Ohio. 1 luul one ex- 
(.H'llent stanil in a largt^ iMcaiing overgrown with the 
Canada thistle ami full ol pokeberry bushes, upon 
which the pigeons were feeiling. It was a picturesque 
place, shut in (mi all si(ies by forests which had never 
Icit the axe. The thistles grew eyer\\vhere among the 
wild grasses anil i>oke-lnishes. and their red plumes, 
WMth the white daisies and the yellow mustard, sug- 
gested at a short distance a vast garden of flowers. 
Tliroughout the clearing, at intervals, stood the tall, 



VVIFJ) PKiKONS AND DOVES 343 

pray trunks of dciid trees, and the pigeons flew out 
from the woods to their branches, and, after surveying 
the ground for a moment, drojjpefl into the bushes to 
feed on the purple berries. After (observing them for 
a time at the fence, I noticed that most of the birds 
came in at one corner of the hehl and I took my stand 
there in perfect conceahnent among the thistles. From 
tny bh'nd I soon saw a flock of pigeons coming from tlie 
forest on swift j)inions, and as they passed I gave them 
both barrels and killed several of them. A single bird 
followed, throwing his weight into his down warrl fliglit. 
IJut at the rej^ort of the gun he fell far f)ut ititfj the 
thistles. I never made a better shot, since the bird 
attempted to pass behind my back, and was a right- 
hander. The flight continued for several hours, begin- 
ning early in the day. My shooting at birds coming in 
alarmed those which had arrived from other directions, 
and which were on the ground feeding, and these flew 
up to the branches of the dead trees, and then left for 
the woods, often passing within range. At times the 
shooting was very rapid. 

Toward the middle of the day the flight slackened, 
the intervals between the flocks became longer, and, as 
1 sat in my blind and observed the sunlight on that field, 
1 made good resolutions to bring the color-box and 
white umbrella and leave the gun at home. The pred- 
atory instinct is, however, often stronger than the 
artistic. Good resolutions were often broken, and 1 
decided many mornings — against the umbrella and in 
favor of the gun. 

There was another flight at evening when the birds 
returned to feed, and in the middle of the day I some- 



344 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

times startled them in the dense woodlands. I pre- 
ferred for once, however, ambush to pursuit, since the 
result of the latter method was a sitting mark. The 
birds were wild and wary, difficult to approach within 
range, and when thev took wing went through or over 
the heavy foliage with a noisy rush of wings, but were 
at most times invisible. 

Shooting through an opening in the leaves at a single 
bird, I was often rewarded with some four or five, 
which had been unseen in the heavy foliage when the 
shot was fired. Such shooting will do for beginners, 
but does not interest those fond of shooting at a flying 
mark. I had similar sport with the pigeons one autumn 
in the oak groves of Northern Illinois, shooting on a 
pass between two groves. They were quite abundant 
that year in the trees about the ravines in the village of 
Lake Forest, north of Chicago, and I shot many there 
without leaving the village. 

A small flock of pigeons or a single pair is occasion- 
ally reported in some newspaper as having been seen 
in the Northwest, but it is doubtful if there is a live 
passenger pigeon at large to-day. There are but a 
very few in captivity. 

The pigeons are gone, but the lesson taught by their 
disappearance remains. Insufficient legislation, insuffi- 
cient enforcement of existing laws for bird protection, 
a lack of public sentiment in favor of the birds, caused 
the annihilation of this race of food birds. 

Mr. Leffingwell well says: " It wasn't done by sports- 
men, for no man having the heart of a sportsman could 
go into a roost of pigeons and strike down the innocent 
fledgling with a club while its mouth was crying for 



WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 345 

food, and its mother circled around it trying to win it 
with piteous cries to take wing and fly with her away 
from this threatening danger." 

He might have added that it was not the sportsman 
who spread the nets and sewed the eyelids of the 
stool-pigeons with silken threads, so they would per- 
form to his liking when tolling their kind to destruc- 
tion. It was not the sportsman who shipped the birds 
in barrels to the market, or in crates to the shooting- 
matches. 

THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON. 

The band-tailed pigeon is a Western bird, and is 
found only west of the Rocky Mountains in the United 
States. It is a very common bird in the woods of Ore- 
gon and California, where it feeds largely on acorns. 
It affords considerable sport to the gunners on the 
Pacific Coast. It is a large, fine bird, excellent as 
food, and flies rapidly, arising from the ground with a 
loud flapping noise like tame pigeons. It goes to the 
stubble fields for grain, and may be shot as it flies in 
and out of the fields. The flocks are often large, con- 
taining hundreds of birds. When not much shot they 
are not very wild, but, like other game, they are quick 
to learn, and soon become extremely wary and difficult 
to approach. 

Dr. Suckly says the Indian name of this pigeon is 
hubboh — a good imitation of its call — and that he pre- 
fers it to the pigeon of the Eastern States. 

Dr. Coues found this pigeon in Arizona, but says it 
is not abundant there. 



346 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 

THE WHITE-WINGED DOVE. 

White-winged doves are so called from the white 
mark on their wings. They are about the same size 
as the Carolina dove, and afford excellent sport in 
Arizona. I read recently of over one hundred being 
taken by a single gun in a day, which is quite too man3^ 
but indicates their abundance. The law should limit 
the bag to twenty-five birds per diem, or perhaps less. 
The citizens might then occasionally have a dove pie 
without danger of exterminating the birds. The white- 
wings have but a limited distribution, and may be said 
to be distinctly a Southwestern bird. It is remark- 
able that this particular part of the country should 
have the greatest variety of feathered game. 

THE GROUND DOVE. 

This is the smallest of all the doves, being not much 
larger than a sparrow. It flies swiftly, like the Caro- 
lina dove, with the same whistling sound. This bird 
is distributed from the Carolinas to Southern Arizona 
and Southern California. 

There are several other pigeons and doves indigenous 
to parts of the United States, but confined to such 
small areas, or being so few in number, as to be unim- 
portant to sportsmen. These are referred to in the 
appendix. 



APPENDIX 

The following descriptive notes, numbered to cor- 
respond with the bird portraits, will enable the reader 
to identify any bird which he is permitted to kill at 
certain seasons. The robin and the meadow-lark are 
leofal gfame in a few Southern States, but the writer 
does not so regard them. 

The popular and techical names are those given in 
the check-list of the American Ornithological Union, 
with but few changes. The color descriptions, mark- 
ings, and measurements are for the most part from 
the following ornithological works : " North American 
Birds," Baird, Brewer and Ridgway; "North Amer- 
ican Shore Birds," " The Gallinaceous Birds," and 
" Wild Fowl or Swimmers," three instructive books by 
D. G. Elliot ; " The Birds of Eastern North America," 
by Chapman, and the Avorks of Audubon, Wilson, Coues, 
Apgar, Forester, Lewis, Trumbull, and others referred 
to in the text. I am indebted to The Auk, to Forest 
and Stream, The American Field, Sportsman'' s Reviciv, 
Recreation, Outing, Shooting and Fishing, Field and 
Stream, Sports Afield, Out of Doors, The National Sports- 
man, and other periodicals to which credit has been 
given. I am, too, much indebted to the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History, New York, and the Smith- 
sonian Institution, Washington, for many mounted 
specimens. 

347 



34S APPENDIX 



BOOK I 

THE GALLINACEOUS BIRDS — THE TURKEYS, PHEASANTS, GROUSE, 
AND TARTRIDGES. 

.Xote. — Quails are gallinaceous birds, but as we have observed in the text, 
there are no quails in North America. Bob-white, the quail ot many North- 
ern sportsmen, is a true partridge, and is now so listed in the check-list of 
the American Ornithological Union. Gallinaceous birds are often called Ra- 
sores (Latin rasor, a scraper), from their scratching like chickens for food. 
The birds of this order found in .\merica are classified by the ornithologists as 
Phiisianidir, the turkeys and pheasants, and TetraoniJic, the grouse and part- 
ridges. 

1. The English Pheasant. — P/iasia»us colchicus. 
The Common Pheasant. 

This bird is very similar to the Mongolian pheasant (No. 2). but not 
so handsome, and without the white collar on the neck. 

Hab. — England, where it was introduced over eight hundred years 
ago from China. Recently introduced into many of the United States. 

2. The Mongolian Pheasant. — P/iasiaiitts tori^natus. 
Ring-neck Pheasant. 

Male. — Forehead, deep green ; crown, fawn color glossed with 
green ; white stripe over eye ; naked skin of sides of head scarlet, dotted 
with minute black feathers ; throat and neck, green reflecting purple ; 
white collar about the neck ; back, black with crcscentic marks of 
buflfy white ; breast, chestnut reHecting purple ; tail, long and barred 
with broad black bands. 

Female'. — Smaller ; similar in shape ; yellowish-brown color. 

Hab. — Many of the United States, where introduced from China ; 
first on the Pacific Coast, in Oregon. 

3. The Wild Turkey. — Meleagris sylvestris. 

Resembles the common domestic turkey, but is far handsomer. 
The plumage shines with metallic colors, gold, green, and bronze and 
reddish-purple predominating. Head and neck naked, red ; legs, red 
and spurred ; bill, red ; long tuft of coarse bristles pendent from breast 
of male; tail, dark chestnut. Length, about 4 ft.* wing, 21 in. 
Weight from 1 2 to 38 pounds, possibly heavier. 

Female. — Smaller ; plumage less brilliant. 



APPENDIX 349 

Hab. — Wooded districts of Central, Western, and Southern States, 
except Florida ; west to Texas and Wisconsin. 

(a) Florida Wild Titrkey [Meleagris sylvestris osceola). 
A smaller turkey. 
Hab. — Southern P^Iorida. 

{b) Elliot's Rio Grande Turkey {Meleagris sylvestris ellioti). 
Hab. — Southeastern Texas and Northeastern Mexico. 

Note. — The turkey is indigenous to North America alone. This bird is 
named turkey since it was erroneously supposed to have been introduced into 
England from Turkey. 

See The .lui, January, 1899. 

4. Prairie Hen. — Tympannchtis Americattus. 
Pinnated Grouse. 

General color brown, barred with black and buff ; black tuft of 
feathers on sides of neck ; throat and cheeks buff, throat marked with 
brown spots ; under parts white, barred cross-wise with brown ; tail 
brown ; large sac of loose skin, capable of inflation, on neck. Length, 
18 in. ; wing, 9 in. 

Feynale. — Similar, without neck sac. Length, 17^^ in. ; wing, 8^ in. 

Hab. — Prairies of the Mississippi valley ; south to Louisiana and 
Texas ; east to Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario ; west 
through eastern portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
Kansas, and the Indian Territory ; north to Manitoba. General tendency 
to extension of range westward and contraction eastward. Migration 
north and south in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. 

Mr. W. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, Michigan, who goes to shoot in the Dakotas 
each season, says : Of late the prairie-chickens have increased, and the sharp- 
tailed grouse have decreased, so on our recent trip, out of ninety birds killed 
probably three-fourths of them were prairie-chickens. 

{a) Lesser prairie hen {Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). 
A smaller and paler bird; pattern and markings the same as No. 4. 
Hab. — Eastern edge of the Great Plains, from Western and prob- 
ably Southern Texas northward through Indian Territory to Kansas. 

[b) Atwater s prairie hen [Tympanuchus americanus atwateri). 
Similar to preceding. 
Hab. — Coast region of Louisiana and Texas. 



350 APPENDIX 

5. Heath Hen. — 7'viiipdniuhits lUpiJo. 

This bird has the same pattern, color, and markings as the common 
prairie grouse, and was until recently regarded as identical with it. 
Only expert ornithologists can distinguish the birds. 

Hub. — Island of Martha's Vineyard. (Formerly Southern New 
England and parts of the Middle States.) 

6. Sharp-tailed Grouse. — Pt-diocictcs pliasiantllus. 

General color brownish gray. Top of head, neck, and entire upper 
parts, black, barred and mottled everywhere, except on top of head, 
with buff, the bars narrow. White spots on the wings, under parts 
white, spotted with black on the throat and front of neck. V-shaped 
marks on breast and Hanks, fewer and smaller on abdomen. Legs and 
toes covered with hairy light-brown feathers. Bill, blackish brown. 
Length, 16 in.; wing, 8>^ in. Weight about 2 pounds. 

Female. — Same as male, perhaps slightly smaller. 

I{ab. — Interior of British America, from Lake Superior and Hudson 
Bay to Fort Simpson. 

(1/) Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse {Pedioccetes phasianelltis co- 
liDiibiaiius). 
Hub. — Plains of the Northwestern United States and British Co- 
lumbia to central portions of Alaska ; northward chiefly west of the 
main Rocky Mountains ; eastward in Montana and Wyoming ; south- 
ward to Utah, Northern Nevada, and Northeastern California. Same 
in pattern and color as the preceding; it would require an expert to 
distinguish them. 

(b) Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse {Pedioccetes phasianellus campes- 

tris) . 
Hab. — Plains and prairies of the United States east of Rocky 
Mountains north to Manitoba; east to Wisconsin and Illinois; south 
to New Mexico. A very similar bird to the others ; somewhat lighter ; 
sometimes called " white-belly." 

7. Ruffed Grouse. — Fonasa umhdlus. 

General color brown. Male. — Upper parts varied with yellowish 
brown and gray, barred with black on back, wings, head, and neck ; 
lower part of back and rump gray, spotted with buff and brown ; tufts 
of long, broad feathers on each side of the neck black, tipped with light 



API'ENDIX 351 

brown reflecting metallic green ; tliroat buff ; l)iiff on chest ; iiiidcr parts 
white, barred with brown ; tail gray or yellowish brown crossed by 
black and buff bars ; broad black band near end of tail. 1-egs feath- 
ered to middle of tarsus, liill, maxilla, black; mandible, horn color. 
Length, 16 in. ; wing, 7^ in. 

Female. — Similar ; smaller, with small neck tufts or none at all. 

Hab. — Eastern Nova Scotia and Southern Canada ; west to Minne- 
sota ; south in the mountains to Northern Georgia, Mississippi, and 
Arkansas. 

(a) Oregon Ruffed Grouse {Bonasa itmbellus sabini). 

Hab. — Coast ranges of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, 
British Columbia. Intergrades with preceding. Similar in appear- 
ance and habits. 

{b) Canadian Ruffed Grouse {Bonasa umbellus togata). 

Hab. — The spruce forests of Northern New England, Northern 
New York, and the British Provinces ; west to Oregon, Washington, 
and British Columbia ; north to James Bay. 

{c) Gray Ruffed Grojise (Bonasa umbellus utnbelloides). 

Hab. — Rocky Mountain region of the United States and British 
America, north to Alaska, east to Manitoba. 

Note. — The different ruffed grouse all have the same habits, and are so much 
alike as to be the same when jiictured in black and white. The slight color 
differences are local or climatic, and of no importance. 



8. Dusky Grouse. — Dendragapus obscurus. 
Blue Grouse. 

General color slaty blue ; head dark brown behind, dull rufous on 
fcjrehead ; throat white mottled with black ; sides of head black ; tail 
rounded, black and tipped with broad gray band ; legs feathered to the 
toes; bill horn color. Length, 20 in. ; wing, 9>^ in. Weight, about 3 
pounds (i pound heavier than prairie grouse, sharp-tailed and ruffed 
grouse). 

Female. — Upper parts mottled with black and buff ; throat buff ; 
under parts slate gray. Length, 17 in. ; wing, 8^ in. 

Hab. — From Central Montana and Southeastern Idaho to New 
Mexico and Arizona; eastward to the Black Hills, South Dakota, and 
westward to East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada. 



352 APPENDIX 

(a) Sooty Grouse {Dendragapus obscurtis fuligi)iostis). 
Hab. — Northwest coast mountains from California to Sitka; east 
to Nevada, Western Idaho, and portions of British Columbia. 

Said to be darker than No. 8, and to have narrower band on its tail. 

[p] Richardson s Grouse {Dendragapus obscurus richardsotiii). 
Hab. — Rocky Mountains, especially on the eastern slopes from Cen- 
tral Montana, Northern Wyoming, and Southeastern Idaho, into Brit- 
ish America to Liard River. 

Very similar to other dusky grouse ; tail without terminal gray band. 

9. Canada Grouse. — Dendragapus canadensis. 

General color black or grayish black ; upper parts gray, barred 
with black ; wings gray-brown mottled and barred with black and 
brown ; under parts black, effectively marked with white ; throat black 
with speckled white border ; long white marks on sides ; legs feath- 
ered to the toes; bill black. Length, 14^ to 16 in.; wing, 7 in. 

Female. — Smaller, more brown and gray in color. 

Hab. — British America east of the Rocky Mountains and west in 
Alaska to the Pacific Coast at Kadiac and St. Michaels; southeastward 
to Northern Minnesota, Northern Michigan, Northern New York, and 
Northern New England. 

{a) Franklin's Grouse {Dendragapjisfranklinii). 

Very similar in size, pattern and color-markings to No. 9 ; dis- 
tinguished by the broad white bars at the end of the upper tail coverts. 

Hab. — Northern Rocky Mountains from Northwestern Montana to 
the coast ranges of Oregon and Washington, and northward in British 
America, reaching the Pacific Coast of Southern Alaska (Lat. 60 " N.). 

10. White-tailed Ptarmigan. — Lagopus hucurus. 
Winter, plumage white. Legs and feet feathered. 

11. White-tailed Ptarmigan (see No. 10). — Summer. 

Summer, plumage is mottled brown, black, and gray ; under parts 
white ; often more or less white on wings. In spring and autumn the 
birds are more or less white, as the change from summer to fall plumage, 
or winter to spring plumage, takes place. Length, 14 in. ; wing, 7 in. 

Hab. — Alpine summits of the mountains of Western North 
America from New Mexico to Liard River, British America ; west on 
the highest ranges of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. 

Distinguished from all other ptarmigan by the white tail. 



APPENDIX 353 

(a) Willow Ptarmigan {Lagopus lagopus). 
Similar to No. lo. White in winter, mottled gray and brown in 
summer ; tail black, extreme base and tip white. Length, 14 in. ; wing, 

7f in. 

Hab. — Arctic regions. In America, south to Sitka, and the British 
provinces ; breeding ranges restricted to the Arctic and sub-Arctic re- 
gions. Accidental in New England (Bangor, Me., and Essex County^ 
Mass.). 

{b) Allen's Ptarmigan {Lagopus lagopus Alleni). 
Similar to {a). 
Hab. — Newfoundland. 

(r) The Rock Ptarmigan {Lagopus rupestris). 

Similar to {a). 

Hab. — Arctic America, except the northern extremity, from Alaska 
to Labrador and Gulf of St. Lawrence, portions of Greenland, Aleu- 
tian Islands. 

{(i) Reinhardf s Ptarmigati {Lagopus rupestris Reinhardti). 
Hab. — Greenland, western shores of Cumberland Gulf, and northern 
extremity of Labrador. 

{e) Nelson's Ptarmigan {Lagopus rupestris nelsoni). 
Hab. — In Alaska and some adjacent Aleutian Islands. 

(/) Turner^ s Ptarmigan {Lagopus rupestris atkhensis). 
Hab. — Atkha, one of the Aleutian Islands. 

{g) Welch's Ptarmigan {Lagopus welchi). 
Hab. — Newfoundland. 

{h) TownsencT s Ptarmigan {Lagopus rupestris townsendi). 
Hab. — Aleutian Islands, Kyrka and Adak. (Elliot, not in check-list.) 

{t) Evermann s Ptarmigan {Lagopus evertnanni). 

Hab. — Island of Attu. (Elliot, not in check-list.) 

Note. — All of these birds from the sportsman's point of view are grouse,— 
white in winter, gray and brown in summer, and mottled or piebald in the spring 
and late summer, when the change in the plumage is taking place. I doubt if 
the most expert ornithologists would agree in naming them were a bag contain- 
ing them all in the spring or fall plumage presented for identification. Their 
comliined habitat or geographical distribution given above will indicate to 
sportsmen where they may expect to shoot a white grouse. 



354 APPENDIX 

12. Sage Grouse. — Centrocercus urophasianus . 

Top of head and neck grayish buff, barred with black ; chin, throat, 
and cheeks white ; throat spotted with black ; upper parts light brown 
or gray, barred with black, dark brown, and gray; tail longer than 
prairie grouse, twenty feathers graduated to a point ; chest gray, barred 
with blackish brown; bill black. Length, 28 in,; wing, 13 in. 
Weight, 5 to 8 pounds. 

7^^;«rt/<?.— Similar, but much smaller. 

Hab. — Sage regions of the Rocky Mountain plateau, and westward, 
chietly within the United States, but north to Assiniboia and the dry 
interior of British Columbia ; east to North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Nebraska, and Colorado ; south to Northern New Mexico, Utah, and 
Nevada ; west in California, Oregon, and Washington to the Sierra 
Nevada and Cascade Range. 

13. Scaled Partridge. — Callipepla squajnata. 

General color slate blue, feathers bordered with black, giving the 
bird the scaled appearance which suggested name. Head brown or 
brownish gray ; top of crest white, throat pale buff, hind neck and 
upper parts of back and breast slate blue ; wings and back pale 
brown ; bill black. Length, 9>^ in. ; wing, 5 in. 

Female. — The same. 

Hab. — Table-lands of Mexico, from the Valley of Mexico north to 
Central and Western Texas, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Southern 
Arizona, 

{a) Chestnut-bellied scaled partridge {Callipepla squantata castanei- 

gastra). 

Similar to No. 16, e.xcept more or less extensive patch of chestnut 
on belly. 

Hab. — Northeastern Mexico and lower Rio Grande Valley. 

14. California Partridge. — Lophortyx califoniictts. 

General color blue ; crest black, narrow at base, wider at end ; fore- 
head buff ; occiput dark chestnut, bordered on sides with black, fol- 
lowed by white line ; line from bill to eye white ; chin and throat black 
bordered with white ; back of neck, breast, and upper back blue ; belly 
buff; abdomen chestnut ; bill black. Length, 10 in, ; wing, \\ in. 

Female. — Similar, not so handsome ; crest shorter and brown ; 
colors more subdued. 



APPENDIX 355 

Hab. — Coast region of California, south to Monterey. Introduced 
in Oregon, Washington, and British Cohimbia. 

{a) Valley partridge (Lophor/yx calif or nicus vallicola). 

General appearance same as No. 14 ; said to be more grayish blue 
or paler in color. 

Hab. — Interior valleys of California and foot-hills of the Sierra 
Nevada ; east to Panamint Mountains, south to Cape St. Lucas. 

15. Gambel's Partridge. — Lophortyx gatnbcH. 

Top of head chestnut ; forehead black crossed by narrow white 
line between eyes, white stripe behind the eye bordered with black 
above ; throat black bordered with white ; upper parts and tail blue ; 
wings with brownish tinge ; lower part buff ; abdomen black ; plume 
black, feathers wider at ends ; bill black ; feet and legs gray. Length, 
10 in. ; wing, 4I in. 

Female. — Similar; throat dark buff; shorter crest. 

Hab. — Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah and 
Nevada, .Southern California in the Colorado Valley, and southward 
into Northwestern Mexico. 

16. Mountain Partridge. — Oreortyx pictus. 

Top of head, sides of neck, and breast slate blue ; upper parts and 
wings deep olive brown ; crest, long straight black feathers ; chin 
white ; throat chestnut bordered with black and white ; middle of belly 
white ; tail olive brown mottled with black ; bill black. Length, 10 in. ; 
wing, 5I in. 

Female. — Similar ; crest feathers shorter. 

Hab. — Pacific Coast region from San Francisco Bay north to Wash- 
ington. Introduced on Vancouver Island. 

(rt) Plumed partridge {^Oreortyx pictus plumiferous). 

Closely resembles No. 16 ; habits the same. 

Hab. — Si^ra Nevada (both slopes) east to Panamint Mountains 
and to Mount Magruder, Nevada ; south in the coast ranges from 
San Francisco Bay to Lower California. 

{b) San Pedro partridge {Oreortyx pictus confim's). 

Another similar bird. 

Hab. — San Pedro Mountains. Lower California. 



356 APPENDIX 

17. Bob-white. — Coliniis virginianus. 

General color brown, marked with black ; throat and stripe over the 
eye white ; top of head and neck dark brown ; back, rump, and upper 
tail coverts brown ; breast and under parts white with black markings ; 
bill black ; legs and feet gray. Length, gYz in. ; wing, ^li in. 

Female. — Similar ; throat and stripe over the eye buff, instead of 
white . 

Hab. — Eastern United States and Southern Ontario, from South- 
ern Maine to the South Atlantic and west to central South Dakota, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Eastern Texas. Of late years has 
gradually extended its range westward along lines of railroad and settle- 
ments ; also introduced at various points in Colorado, New Mexico, 
Arizona, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington. Breeds 
throughout its range. 

(a) Florida Bob-white {Colinus virginiamts floridanus) . 

Pattern and markings the same as No. 17 ; somewhat darker and 
smaller bird. 

Hab. — Florida. 

{b) Texan Bob-white [Colitius virginiamts texanus). 

Pattern and markings the same as No. 17 ; smaller and more gray 
in color. 

Hab. — Southern and Western Texas and Mexico. 

{c) Masked Bob-white [Colinus ridgwayi). 

Head black, mixed with chestnut on top, white line over eye ; throat 
back instead of white ; same habits ; same whistle. Length, Zyi in. 
Hab. — Southern Arizona to Sonora, Mex. 

Note. — There are a number of other Bob-whites described by ornithologists 
as more or less different from No. 17. These are found south of the Rio 
Grande in Mexico and Central America. The differences are unimportant to 
sportsmen. 

Mr. Rene Bache (quoted in Sportsman's Rn>iew, May 23, 1903) claims that 
the partridge Bob-white is easily tamed and that it breeds readily in captivity. 
The matter is of the utmost importance to sportsmen who are interested in 
game preserves. Mr. Bache says : " The birds may be kept in flocks at liberty 
like any other domestic fowl, requiring only to be sheltered during the cold 
months. Their natural increase is large, the species being remarkably prolific. 
A few wild birds to start with are easily obtained, and if captured in the early 
winter may be expected to lay in the following spring and again in the early 



APPENDIX 357 

fall. The female produces two broods a year, of fifteen or sixteen young ones 
each, and it is rare for an egg to fail to produce a bird. By slowly removing 
some of the eggs from the nest, after the first few have been laid, the output 
can be increased to fifty or even sixty eggs for a season, the extra ones being 
hatched under a hen. Experiments have been made with incubators for hatch- 
ing quail (partridge) eggs, and with some degree of success, but the hen serves 
admirably for the purpose. It should be a hen of gentle disposition and light 
weight, so as not to smash the treasures confided to her, and a bantam seems to 
be well adapted for the business." Mr. Bache describes at length the method 
of rearing the young, but his story would be more satisfactory if it were accom- 
panied with some statement of facts concerning those who have experimented 
with partridge domestication. A general opinion has prevailed that these birds 
were not easily tamed and that they did not breed in confinement. The editor 
of the Review, says, however : " In future years it is probable the breeding of 
quail (partridges) for stocking depleted resorts will be conducted in a system- 
atic manner by the game and fish commissioners of nearly all the States." 
Our partridges are far better game birds than the imported pheasants, to which 
much time and attention has been given. Partridges can without doubt be 
raised in considerable numbers in a wild state on farms where they are cared 
for and protected at all times. I should be glad to see the evidence that they 
can be bred in captivity. 

" No person shall shoot at any quail except when they are flying " — Ohio 
laws, 1902. This would be a good law for all the States. The word part- 
ridge should be used in the statute however. Since there are no quails in 
America a conviction under the Ohio law would be hardly possible. 

18. Massena Partridge. — Crytonyx nionteztima. 

Forehead black with white stripe passing upward from nostril ; top 
of head brown barred with black ; short, thick crest brown ; triangular 
black patch beneath the eye ; head marked with white as pictured ; 
upper parts brown barred with black ; sides of breast and flanks dusky 
black spotted with white, resembling small guinea-hen ; bill black. 
Length, 8^ in.; wing, 5 in. 

Female. — Brown, upper parts barred with black, black spots on 
lower chest and flanks. 

/fa(J.— Table-lands of Mexico, from the City of Mexico north to 
Western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 



358 APPENDIX 



BOOK II 

WILD-FOWL OR SWIMMERS, — THE SWANS, GEESE, BRANT, DUCKS, 
AND MERGANSERS, AtiatidCB. 

19. Whistling Swan. — Cygnus columbianus. 

Plumage white ; feet and bill black. Length about 53 in. Easily 
distinguished from Trumpeter Swan (No. 20) by smaller size and by 
yellow spot near the eye. Young birds for first five years are gray, be- 
coming lighter each year. 

Hab. — North America, Arctic regions to Gulf of Mexico. 

20. Trumpeter Swan. — Cygnus buccinator. 

Plumage white; feet and bill black. Length about 63 in. Distin- 
guished from Whistling Swan by size and weight and by absence of 
yellow spot near the eye. Young birds gray. 

Hab. — Interior North America west to Pacific Coast, Arctic regions 
to Gulf. Accidental on Atlantic Coast. Breeds in North Dakota and 
some other Northern States. 

A'ote. — The young swans arc fairly good to eat ; as they grow older they are 
less desirable. To cook a swan : 

" Take three pounds of beef, beat fine in a mortar, 
Put into the swan, — that is when you've caught her, 
Some pepper, salt, mace, some nutmeg, an onion 
Will heighten the flavor in Gourmand's opinion. 
Then tie it up tight, with a small piece of tape, 
That the gravy .and other things may not escape. 

" To a gravy of beef good and strong I opine 
You'll be right if you add a half pint of port wine. 
Pour this through the swan, yes, quite through the belly, 
Then serve the whole up with some hot currant jelly." 

— Rev. J. C. Matchett. 

21. Cackling^ Goose. — Branta canadensis minima. 

Same as No. 23, excepting smaller size. Length about 24 in. 
Hab. — Alaska to California ; occasional in Mississippi Valley. 

22. Hutchins Goose. — Branta canadensis hutchinsii. 

Same as Canada goose No. 23, only smaller. Length about 30 in. 
Largest Hutchins goose will rarely equal in size the smallest Canada 
goose. (Elliot.) 

Hab. — Western North America, Mississippi Valley to Pacific Coast ; 
rare on Atlantic Coast. 



APPENDIX 359 

23. Canada Goose. — Branta canadensis. 
Common Wild Goose. 

Head and neck black ; triangular white patch on each cheek ex- 
tending over throat; upper parts brown, the feathers tipped with light 
brown ; rump, tail, and primaries black ; lower parts gray, white in 
anal region ; bill, legs, and feet black. Average size, 38 in. Young 
birds have white cheek patches speckled with black. 

Hub. — North America, Arctic regions to Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic 
to Pacific. 

(a) White-cheeked Goose [^Branta canadensis occidentalis). 
Very similar to Canada goose ; more or less distinct white collar 
at base of black neck. Length, 33 to 36 in. 
Hab. — Alaska to California. 

24. Black Brant. — Branta nigrans. 

Head, neck, upper part breast, abdomen and tail black ; bill, legs 
and feet black; white collar on neck interrupted behind ; upper parts 
and wings dark brown ; crissum, sides of rump, upper and under tail 
coverts white ; abdomen and breast blackish. Length about 25 in. 

Hab. — Western North America, Arctic region to Lower California. 

25. Brant Goose. — Branta bemicla. 

Head, neck, breast, back at base of neck, and tail black ; patch of 
white on either side of head ; upper parts brownish gray ; under parts 
grayish white ; pure white about and under tail ; rump brownish black ; 
bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 24-30 in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, chiefly about Atlantic Coast ; rare 
in Mississippi Valley. 

26. Emperor Goose. — Philacte canagica. 

Head and back of neck white ; throat and forepart of neck brown- 
ish black ; feathers on lower part of neck, with a small white spot at 
tip ; back and under parts bluish gray ; lower back and upper tail cov- 
erts bluish gray ; bill pale purplish ; legs and feet orange. Length, 
26 in. Young : head and neck brownish black. 

Hab. — Coast and islands of Alaska. 

27. Ross Snow^ Goose. — Exanthemops rossii. 

Plumage white, except primaries, which are black. Bill, legs, and 
feet red. Length about 33 in. 

Hab. — Arctic regions to Southern California, east to Montana. 



36o APPENDIX 

28. Lesser Snow Goose. — Chcu hypcrhoreus. 

Same as greater siiow-goose (No. 31), only smaller. Length about 
25 in. 

llab. — Western North America from Valley of Mississippi to Pa- 
cific Coast ; Alaska to Southern California. 

29. Blue Goose, — Clun Caritlescens. 

Heail and upper part of neck white ; breast, back, and wings gray- 
ish brown ; wing coverts and rump bluish gray ; under parts white ; 
tail brownish gray ; bill pale pinkish ; legs and feet red. Length about 
28 in. Young, like adult, except head and neck grayish brown. 

Hab. — Interior North America, Hudson Bay to Gulf of Mexico ; not 
on Pacific Coast. 

30. White-fronted Goose. — Anser alUfrons. 

Heatl and neck brown, except forepart of head white ; back and 
wings grayish brown, tipped with white ; primaries black ; rump 
slate brown ; lower parts grayish white ; bill, legs and feet orange. 
Length, 28 in. Young : no white on head. 

Hab. — Nortli America ; rare on Atlantic Coast. 

31. Greater Snow Goose. — Chen hypt-rborcus nivalis. 

Plumage white except primaries, which are black ; bill purplish red ; 
legs and feet orange red. Young : head, neck, and upper parts gray. 
Length, 34 in. 

Hab. — Arctic Sea to (lUlf, Valley of Mississippi to Atlantic Ocean. 

32. Fulvous Tree Duck. — Drntiiwyi^na fuha. 

Head yellowish brown, darker on top ; ring of black feathers with 
white centres on middle of neck ; lower part of neck yellowish brown ; 
back black barred with cinnamon ; tail black ; throat buffy white ; 
under parts cinnamon ; upper part breast yellowish brown ; legs and 
feet slate blue ; bill bluish black. Length, 20 in. 

Female. — Similar to male. 

Hab. — States of Nevada, California, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico. 
Accidental in Missouri and North Carolina. 

33. Black-bellied Tree Duck. — Dendrocygua autumnalh. 

Head gray, cinnamon on top; chin and throat gray white ; neck, 
upper portion breast, back and scapulars cinnamon brown ; luiddle 
back, rump, and upper tail coverts black ; white tint on wing ; lower 



APPENDIX 361 

parts and sides of breast yellowish brown ; abdomen and flanks 
black ; bill red ; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 19 in. 

Female. — Resembles male. 

//a<J.— Southwestern States nearest Mexico ; south through Mex- 
ico to South America. 

34. Canvas-back. — Aristonetta valisncria. 

Head dark chestnut red, black on top ; upper part of back, chest, 
rump, upper and lower tail coverts black ; back and sides white, with 
narrow waved black lines which give back gray or canvas appearance, 
similar to that of redhead, only waved black lines in latter are wider, 
causing back to appear darker; bill black and sloping gradually from 
outline of head ; legs and feet gray ; tail black. Length, 20 in. 

Female. — Head, neck, chest, and upper part of back dark brownish- 
red, darkest on top ; rest of back and sides dark brown ; bill and feet 
same as male. 

Hab. — North America. Breeds in Northern United States. 

35. Ringed-neck Duck. — Fuligula collaris. 

Similar to lesser scaup (No. 38), excepting a more or less well-de- 
fined chestnut red collar or ring around middle of neck . Length about 
17^ in. Intermediate in size between scaup and lesser scaup. 

Hab. — North America. Breeds in Northern United States. 

36. Labrador Duck. — Camptolamns lahradorius. 
Pied Duck. 

Centre of crown black ; rest of head, throat, and upper neck white ; 
back black ; wing white except primaries fuscous ; front and sides of 
upper breast white ; lower breast and belly black. Length, 20 in. ; 
wing, 8>^ in. 

Hah. — P^ormerly North Atlantic Coast, breeding from Labrador 
northward, and in winter migrating southward to Long Island ; doubt- 
less now extinct. 

Formerly not unusual to see them in Fulton Market, New York. 
The cause of this duck's extinction is unknown. — Chapman. See also 
paper on this species, The Auk, Vol. VIII. (1891), pp. 201-16. 

37. Scaup Duck. — Fulii^iila marila. 
Blue-bill. 

Black-head. 

Head, neck, foreparts of back, and chest black, with green reflec- 
tions on head and neck; lower back, rump, upper and lower tail cov- 



36a ArrRxnix 

crts black ; iniddlo of luok, siiios, tl.mks. and anal tTi>ion. white waved 
witli blaok linos; tail blackish brown ; belly while; bill, lejjs, and feet 
bluish y;ray. lenv^th about U) in. 

/•Vw.;/r-.— Forehe.ul .uul sides ol bill at base white ; rest of head, 
neck, .uul breast dark brown; upper p.uts liuskv brown; belly while; 
bill, lej;^. and feet same .»s ui.ile. 

J/,)/'. — North .Vnieriea; breeds in North P.ikoi.i and other Northern 
St.ites. 

38. Lesser Scaup Duck. — /^w//<>-M/ti ofitm's. 

Same in paltc-tii inarkinvjT^ .as preeeding" (No. ;;). except iiii,; rellee- 
tions on lie.ul, w liuh .ue s.iid to be purple instead of jjreen ; smaller. 
l.enj;th about i(^ in. 

//.»/>.- -North .\merie.i. Hreeds in Niirthern I'nited St.ites. 

39. Redhead. — .-EtAvia AmfrittiH,j. 

He.ul and neek chestnut red. redder than th.tt of canvas-back, .and 
vjlossed with purple at times ; vipper b.ick. rump, .uul upper .uul lower 
t.iil coverls black ; b.u-k .uul sides white with bl.ick w.ived lines wider 
th.ui thi>se oi cauv.is-b.uk .»ud nuire like those of bl.uk-he.ul or sc. mp 
duck; tail dark brown; bill blue; Icv^s aiul feet grayish blue. l.em;th 
about lo'j in. 

Ff-f»ii/f. — llc.ul .u\d neck pale brown; Ivu-k i^r.iyish brown; bill 
and feet same as male. 

f/iih. North AnuM'ica. Hreeds in Northern St.ites. 

40. Buffle-head Duck. -Ck,tn't<'Mrff,i olhtoh. 
Butter-Ball. 

Head bl.ick with nu-t.illic i;rcen or purple reflections, with broad 
white b.uul from behind eye \o top of head ; fe.ithers of he.id putTed 
out. y^ivinc head l.irv;e appe.ir.ince ; b.ick ,uul rump bkick ; lower part 
neck, luuler parts and p.itch on wiuji, white ; t.iil d.irk jL^r.iy ; Icj^s and 
feet llesh color, l.enj^th about 14 'j in. 

/•'i'f»,i/t-. — Head and neck dark brown with white p.itcli on cheeks; 
upper p.uts bl.ickish brown ; upper p.irt. breast, sides, .m.il leii^ion. ,uul 
lower t.iil coverts dull vjiay ; rest of under p.uts white; bill ilusky ; 
lev;s and feet bluish v^niy. 

Had, — North .\mcric.i, 

4 1 . Surf Scoter. - (/■■.;■<•"//.; />(■'. tfi.i/.'.if.i. 

riiim.iv^e bl.ick. except trianjiular sjiot on forehcul, with point for- 
w.ird .uul .iiunher on n.ipe, white; bill rcil or.inj;e. I.enj;th, 21 in. 



AI'I'RNDIX 363 

Frmalr. I'rDwnisti tila' k with wliiU: patrli on lorrs anM ariollu^r 
brliind cars. 

Ifa/>. — North America from Atlanti'; to I'a<;i(i': ; soiith to !■ lori'la, 
Ohio I<iv<;r, Lower California. 

42. Hooded Mcrpjaniicr. l.of>ho(lytfs ( u(nllitlu\. 

Head, ri<:' k, and back black ; crest white ; while patch on win;^' di- 
vided by black bar ; rump dark brown ; in front of winj^, (;n .sides of chest, 
two black and while cresccnlic bars, pointed at one encj; under parts 
while ; bill black ; lej^s and feet yellowish brown ; iri» yellow. 
I.ciiy^ih, 18 in. 

I'emalii. — Heafi, neck, and upper parts ;(rayish brown ; crest 
brown ; patch on winj{ white cros.scd by black bar; under parts while ; 
tail dark j^rayish brown; bill black; mandible oranj^e ; feet li^jhl 
brown ; iris hazel, f.en^^th, i6>i in. 

Hab. — North America. I'reeds ihronjdioiil. its ranj(e. 

43. Red-breasted Merganser. — Mfr^anscr sermtur. 

[lead and crest black reflecting j^rccn and purple; white rmj( 
around neck ; lower back and rump j^ray mottled with black and 
white; winj( mostly white <:rossed by two black bars; Njwer ne<;k an<l 
upper breast pale, cinnamon streakerl with bla* k ; under parts white ; 
bill red ; le).(s and feet oranj^e red. I-cnj{th, 22>^ in. 

Female. — Head and neck brownish buff or cinnamon ; while patch 
on wing divided by black bar ; throat and under parts white ; bill, legs 
and feet similar to male. 

/A</a - Northern parts of bfitli hemispheres. 

44. American Merganser. ~Miri;anser amfricnnut. 

Head anrl neck black, reflecting green; upper parts black; rump 
anrl tail cf)vert» gray ; wing white with blar:k bar ; under parts salmon 
color, which fades after fleatli (llllifjt) ; tail gray ; bill and feel red. 
Length, 2O in. 

l-'emalc. Head and n(:(k redtlish brown; chin and throat white ; 
under parts ash gray; white speculum on wing, Length, 22^ in. 

Hab. — North America, breeding in United States. 

45. Golden Eye. Clanintld rlanyjtlu. 

Head and upper part of neck glossy green willi purple reflections; 
large white spot between bill and eye ; lower part of neck, upper part 



364 APPENDIX 

of back, greater wing coverts and under parts white ; rest of upper 
parts black ; bill greenish black ; legs and feet orange. Length, 20 in. 

Female. — Head and upper neck brown : collar on neck white ; 
back blackish brown ; under parts white. 

Hab. — North America. 

(a) — Barrow's Golden Eye is a similar bird. Head bluish black, reflect- 
ing green. Found only in interior, from Arctic regions south to New York, 
Colorado, etc. 

46. Long-tailed Duck. — HaveUa glacialis. 
Old Squaw. 

Male, winter plumage. — Head, white, gray on sides ; neck, back 
and upper parts of back and chest white ; middle back, rump, upper 
tail coverts and wings black ; scapulars pearl gray ; tail black on 
median feathers, central pair elongated, outer feathers white ; breast 
and upper part abdomen brown ; bill orange ; legs and feet bluish 
gray. 

Summer. — Head, neck, and upper parts sooty black, except lores ; 
forepart, cheeks and sides of forehead mouse gray ; under parts and 
flanks white ; bill black with broad rose-pink band crossing in front of 
nostrils ; legs and feet pale bluish white. Length, 21 to 23 in., depend- 
ing on tail feathers. 

Female, ivinter plumage. — Head, neck, and lower parts white, ex- 
cept forehead and crown dusky ; upper parts dark brown ; tail grayish 
brown ; central pair not elongated as in male. 

Hab. — Northern hemisphere. North America, Arctic Sea to 
Florida and California. 

47. Harlequin Duck. — Histrionicus histrionicus. 

Head and neck dark gray glossed with violet, marked with white 
stripes and spots ; forehead, crown, and nape black ; upper parts slaty 
blue, grading into blue-black on lower part of rump and upper tail 
coverts ; breast and abdomen gray ; sides and flanks rufous ; specu- 
lum deep bluish violet ; bill gray ; legs and feet bluish gray. Length, 
17/2 in. 

Female. — Head, neck, and upper parts dark brown ; head marked 
with white spots before and behind the eye ; breast, sides, and flanks 
reddish brown ; abdomen white ; bill, legs and feet dark bluish gray. 
Length, 17 in. 

Hab. — North America, from Arctic regions to Middle States and 
California. 



APPENDIX 365 

48. Ruddy Duck. — Erismatura jamaicensis. 

Upper parts of head, including eye and nape, glossy black ; sides of 
head and chin white ; throat, neck, back, upper tail coverts, scapulars, 
and flanks bright reddish chestnut ; lower back and rump grayish 
brown ; tail brownish black ; under parts white ; bill, legs, and feet 
grayish blue. Length, 16 in. 

Female. — Upper head dark brown ; cheeks brown, white stripe 
from below the eye to nape ; upper parts dusky brown ; lower parts 
silvery white ; bill blue ; legs and feet bluish gray. Length about 

i5>^ in- 

Hab. — North America, except Alaska. Breeds from Hudson Bay 
to Guatemala. 

49. Masked Duck. — Nomonyx dominicus. 

Head, excepting throat and chin, black ; nape, throat, neck, back, 
scapulars, and upper tail coverts dark cinnamon ; lower back and 
rump dark brown spotted with black ; breast dark cinnamon grading 
into reddish buff ; wings dark brown with white speculum ; under tail 
coverts cinnamon blotched with black ; tail dark brown ; bill and eye- 
lids pale blue ; legs and feet brown. Length about 15 in. 

Female. — Head buff, light on chin and throat ; top of head black ; 
stripe from base of bill through eye to occiput, and one from gape to 
occiput black ; neck buff mottled with brown ; upper parts black ; 
wings dark brown ; speculum white ; primaries and tail brownish 
black ; under parts ochraceous spotted with black on breast ; bill horn 
brown. Length, 13 in. 

Hab. — Tropical America from West Indies and Northern South 
America to Lower Rio Grande, straggling as far as Massachusetts 
and Wisconsin. An accidental visitor only to United States. Related 
to Ruddy Duck, but does not go in as large flocks. Flesh is as good as 
that of Ruddy. Expert diver, and diflficult to recover when wounded. 

50. White-winged Scoter. — Oidemia deglandi. 

Entire plumage black, except small spot under eye and speculum on 
wing white ; bill black, red, and white ; legs and feet scarlet. Length, 
20 in. 

Female. — Sooty brown ; white spots on head ; bill dusky ; legs 
and feet duller than those of the male, flesh color tinged with black. 

Hab. — Northern portions North America on both coasts, south to 
Chesapeake, Southern Illinois, Lower California. 



366 APPENDIX 

(a) American Scoter (Oidemia americana). 

Entire plumage black, no speculum ; bill, black and orange on 
basal half ; legs and feet black. Length, i8 in. 

Female, — Sooty brown ; bill black, sometimes marked with yellow ; 
legs and feet olive brown. Length, i8 in. 

Hab. — North America, Arctic region to New Jersey on east coast, 
California on Pacific ; Great Lakes. Accidental in Missouri. 

51. King Eider. — Somateria spectabilis. 

Top of head gray, cheeks pale green ; head, throat, neck, upper 
part of neck, wing coverts, and large patch on each side of rump white ; 
line along base of bill, spot beneath the eye, and broad V-shaped 
mark from chin along sides of throat, black ; breast dark cream color ; 
lower back, rump, and rest of under parts black ; tail brownish black. 
Length, 23 in. 

Female. — Head, chin, throat dark buff streaked with brown ; chest 
and sides light buff ; back and under parts blackish brown ; tail black ; 
legs and feet dull ochre. Length, 23 in. 

Hab. — Arctic regions, south on Atlantic to Georgia, Great Lakes. 
Not found on Pacific south of Alaska. 

Note. — The Pacific Eider and the Spectacled Eider are similar birds, found 
only in Alaska. 

52. American Eider. — Somateria dresseri. 

Top of head black with white stripe on occiput ; cheeks, chin, throat, 
and neck black ; lesser and middle wing coverts and patch on either 
side of rump white ; greater wing coverts and secondaries brownish 
black ; lower part of back, rump, upper and under tail coverts, and 
under parts below breast, black ; breast cream color ; tail brown ; bill 
olive green ; legs and feet green. Length, 22 in. 

Female. — Plumage brown ; head streaked with narrow black lines ; 
bill, legs, and feet like male. Size same. 

Hab' — North America from Labrador to Delaware on Atlantic 
Coast ; occasional on Great Lakes. 

{a) Eider {Somateria mollissima). 

Very similar to No. 52, the description of one answers well for the 
other. 

Hab. — Northeastern coast North America, south to Massachu- 
setts. 



APPENDIX 367 

53. Blue-Tvinged Teal. — Querquedula discors. 

Head and neck gray, black on top and chin ; crescent-shaped mark 
of white on head between bill and eye ; back gray with bars of buff ; 
wing, patch metallic green with white bar in front ; lesser wing cov- 
erts pale blue ; lower back and tail dusky with white patch on each 
side of tail ; under parts and sides reddish buff ; bill black ; legs and 
feet yellow. Length, 15 in. 

Female, — Head and neck duskygray, black on top; chin and throat 
white ; upper parts dusky, barred with V-shaped buff marks ; wing 
coverts blue, like male ; no green wing patch ; bill black ; legs and 
feet pale flesh color. Length, 15 in. 

Hab. — North America in general, but chiefly the Eastern Province; 
north to Alaska, and south to the West Indies and Northern South 
America ; breeds from the Northern United States northward. 

54. Cinnamon Teal. — Querquedula cyanoptera. 

Head, neck, and lower parts chestnut, darker on top ; wing coverts 
pale blue ; wing patch green with white bar above ; bill black ; legs 
and feet orange. Length, 17 in. 

Female. —Similar to female blue-winged teal, but more reddish. 
Length, xdyi in. 

Hab. — Western America from Columbia River South to Chili, 
Patagonia, and Falkland Islands ; East in North America to the Rocky 
Mountains ; casual in Mississippi valley. 

55. Dusky Duck. — Anas obsciira. 

Head and throat buff, streaked with dusky black on top and back 
of neck ; remainder of plumage dusky black, paler beneath ; wing 
patch violet, sometimes reflecting green, edged with black ; bill yellow ; 
legs and feet orange red. Length about 22 in. 

Female. — Same as male. 

Hab. — Eastern North America from Labrador to Florida (where re- 
placed by Florida dusky duck {a) below) ; west to Valley of Mississippi. 

Hab. — Florida. 

{a) Florida Dusky Duck {Anas ftdvigula). 
Same as preceding, from sportsman's point of view. Same in ap- 
pearance ; somewhat smaller. 

{b) Mottled Duck {Anas fulvigula maculosa). 
Similar to Florida dusky. 
Hab. — Eastern Texas, Louisiana, north to Kansas. 



368 ^ APPENDIX 

56. Green-winged Teal. — Nettion carolinensis. 

Head and neck chestnut, broad green band from eye to nape, ter- 
minating in black tuft ; chin black ; back and sides waved with white 
and black narrow lines; lower back brownish gray ; broad white bar in 
front of wing ; wing patch green bordered below by black bar tipped 
with white ; breast red spotted with black ; belly white ; bill black ; 
legs and feet gray. Length, I4>^ in. 

Female. — Chin and throat buff ; wing same as male ; upper parts 
dusky ; breast dark buff and spotted ; bill black ; legs and feet gray. 
Length, i^Yz in. 

Hab. — North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States 
and migrating south to Honduras and Cuba. 

{a) The European Teal (anas crecca). 
An occasional visitor to our shores, is very similar to the American 
green-winged teal. 

57. Wood Duck. — ^-Ex sponsa. 

Head dark green, reflecting purple and blue, with long crest ; 
white line over eye to end of crest ; b-oader white line below the eye, 
continued along lower edge of crest ; breast chestnut marked with 
arrow-shaped white marks; throat white; back dark brown glossed 
with bronze green ; wing coverts steel blue ; lower breast and abdo- 
men white ; tail black ; bill red ; legs and feet yellow. Length, 18 in. 

Female. — Head gray ; space about eye and throat white ; back, 
rump, and upper tail coverts bronze ; bill red ; legs and feet yellow. 
Length, 18 in. 

Hab. — Temperate North America ; breeding throughout its range. 

58. Mallard. — Anas boschas. 

Similar to green-headed duck of barn-yards. Head and neck green, 
white collar ; back brown with narrow waved lines of lighter brown ; 
wings slate brown ; speculum or wing patch purple, crossed at each 
end with black bar succeeded by white bar ; breast chestnut ; under 
parts silvery gray with waved lines of black ; tail coverts black ; tail 
white ; bill greenish yellow ; legs and feet orange red. Length about 
22 in. 

Female. — Dusky brown with buff markings ; wing patch purple. 
Size, bill, feet, and legs same as male. 

Hab. — Northern portions both hemispheres ; breeds throughout its 
range. 



APPENDIX ^ 369 

59. Widgeon. — Mareca americana. 

Female.— 'Yo^ of head black, feathers margined with white ; upper 
parts dusky barred with buff ; wing coverts gray, edged with white ; 
wing patch black and green ; bill, legs, and feet same as male. 
Length, 18 in. 

Hab. — North America. 



60. Widgeon (See 59). 

Male. — Head dull light buff speckled with black, white on top 
(from which named baldpate) ; green patch behind the eye ex- 
tending on neck ; back vinacious undulated with black ; wing 
coverts white ; black bar across wing ; wing patch green and black ; 
lower breast and abdomen white ; bill gray blue, tip black ; legs and 
feet gray. Length, 19 in. 

Young male similar to female (No. 59;. 

Note. — The Widgeon is sometimes called bald-face. " Went a ducking be- 
tween breakfast and dinner and killed two mallards and five bald-faces." — 
Washington s Diary. 

Widgeon when much shot at on the feeding grounds will leave the bays in the 
daytime and return to feed at sun-set or later. I recently heard them at Back- 
bay, Currituck, long after sun-set, sounding their low, sweet, musical whistle as 
they passed overhead, returning to the bay. 



61. Sprig-tail. — Dafila acuta. 
Pin-tail. 

Head and upper neck brown, metallic reflections on sides ; white 
stripe on sides of neck, extending to white under parts ; back and sides 
of flank waved with narrow white and gray lines ; cinnamon bar across 
wing ; wing patch reflecting bronze green, black bar and white tip ; 
tail feathers brown on outer webs, gray on inner, central pair long, 
extending beyond the others (hence name pin-tail duck) ; bill bluish 
gray ; legs and feet brownish gray. Length, 26 in. 

Female. — Head yellowish white streaked with gray, rufous on top 
streaked with black ; back of neck dusky streaked with bufT ; bill blu- 
ish gray ; legs and feet gray. Length, 20 in. 

Hab. — Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds from the 
northern parts of the United States northward and migrates south to 
Panama and Cuba. 



370 APPENDIX 

62. Shoveller. — Spafula clyp-afiU 

Head and neck green ; upper part back and breast white ; middle 
back brown ; rump and upper tail coverts black glossed with green ; 
wing coverts blue ; narrow white band across wing ; wing patch 
green ; under parts chestnut ; bill black ; legs and feet orange red. 
Length, 19 in. 

Female. — Head and neck buff streaked with gray, brownish white 
on top ; wing coverts blue ; wing patch green ; under parts reddish 
buff ; bill olive brown ; legs and feet orange. Length, 19 in. 

Hab. — Northern hemisphere, Alaska to Te.xas, not common on At- 
lantic Coast. 

63. Gadwall. — ChauUlasmus streperiis. 
Gray Duck. 

Head light buff, rufous on top spotted with black and brown ; up- 
per part back and breast marked with crescent-shaped black and 
white bars, the former most prominent ; back, scapulars, and flanks 
undulated with slate color and white ; wing gray ; wing patch white, 
black stripe in front ; vent and under tail coverts black ; rest of under 
parts white ; bill bluish black ; legs and feet orange. Length, 20 in. 

64. Gadwall (See 63). 

Female. — Head tawny spotted with brown and buff; chin and 
throat yellowish white ; wings like male with white wing patch (but 
little or no black in front) ; bill dusky orange ; legs and feet dull yel- 
low. Length, 19 in. 

Hab. — Arctic regions to Mexico. Breeds in Northern States. 

BOOK HI 

THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS, ORDER LimicolcB, LITERALLY MUD- 
DWELLERS — THE SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, PLOVERS, AND OTHER 
WADING BIRDS. 

65. Wilson's Snipe. — Gallifiago delicata. 

Head black on top, striped with buff ; neck buff with black spots ; 
back black with brown and buff lines ; breast buff spotted with brown; 
bill gray, 2j^-3 in. long. Length, io'/i-ii}4 in. ; wing, $-$^4 in. 

Had. — North and Middle America, breeding from the Northern 
United States northward. South in winter to West Indies and South 
America. 



APPENDIX 371 

Often called Jack snipe, English snipe, marsh snipe, shad-bird or 
shad spirit. 

(a) European Snipe {Gallinago gallinago.) 

Somewhat similar. Listed in check-list of the American Ornitho- 
logical Union since specimens have been taken in Greenland. 

66. Knot. — Tringa canutus. 

Top of head dark brown streaked with white ; back gray ; rump 
and upper tail coverts white barred with black ; under parts white. 
In summer the throat, breast, and sides of the abdomen are cinnamon ; 
middle of abdomen white ; bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 10 in. ; 
wing, 6^ in. 

//fl^.— Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in high northern latitudes, 
but visits the southern hemisphere during its migrations. Not found 
on Pacific Coast of America south of Alaskan peninsula. — Elliot. 

67. Bartramian Sandpiper. — Bartramia longicauda. 

General color brown, variegated with black and buff ; head buff on 
sides streaked with brown, black on top ; back black marked with 
buff ; throat and under parts buff marked with brown on breast and 
flanks ; bill brownish black ; feet and legs yellowish gray. Length, 
12 in. ; wing, dyi in. 

Hub. — North America, mainly east of Rocky Mountains ; south in 
winter to South America. 

68. Dowitcher. — Macrorhamphus griseus. 
Red-breasted Snipe. 

General color reddish or gray brown. Similar in size and length 
of bill to Wilson's snipe (No. 65). Head and upper parts mixed with 
buff, brown, and white ; abdomen and belly white. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, breeding far north ; south in win- 
ter to South America. 

{a) Western Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher {Macrorhamphus 

scolopaceus). 

A Western variety and similar to No. 68, with bill somewhat 
longer. 

Hab. — Mississippi Valley and Western Province of North America 
from Mexico to Alaska. Less common but of regular occurrence 
along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. 



372 APPENDIX 

69. American Woodcock. — Philohela minor. 

General color brown, more gray in the autumn ; head brown, dark 
brown line from bill to eye ; top of head black, crossed by narrow buff 
lines ; upper parts variegated with reddish brown, black, and gray ; 
under parts reddish buff; bill brown, 2>2-3 in. long; feet and legs 
gray. Length, loyi-w^i in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, north to British Provinces ; west- 
ward to Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska. Southern States in winter. Colo- 
rado, not common. 

(a) European Woodcock {Scolopax rusticola). 
A much larger bird than No. 69. Easily distinguished by its size. 
Hab. — An occasional visitor to Eastern North America. 

70. Pectoral Sandpiper. — Tringa tnaculata. 

Head and upper parts pale gray ; rump brownish black ; breast 
and sides buff streaked with brown ; under parts white ; bill black ; 
legs and feet buff. Length, 8>^-9 in. ; wing, 5-5 \ in. 

Hab. — The whole of North America, the West Indies, and the 
greater part of South America. Breeds in the Arctic regions. 

71. Hudsonian Godwit. — Liniosa hcemastica. 

Head, back, and sides of neck grayish white ; back black marked 
with buff, gray, and white ; upper tail coverts white ; tail black, base 
and tip white ; throat white streaked with black ; lower parts dark 
chestnut narrowly barred with black ; bill flesh color ; feet and legs 
gray blue. Length, 14-16 in. ; wing, 8 in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, and whole of Middle and South 
America. Also in Alaska. South in winter to South America. 

72. Marbled Godwit. — Limosa fa-da. 

Head and neck buff streaked with black ; upper parts reddish buff 
barred with black ; white stripe from bill to above the eye ; throat 
white ; under parts rufous barred with brown ; bill flesh color on basal 
half, brown black on remaining parts; feet gray. Length, i6_J^-2o^ 
in, ; wing, ?>}( in. 

Hab. — North America generally, breeding in interior from Iowa 
and Dakota north; south in winter to Guatemala, Yucatan, Cuba, etc. 

73- Black-necked Stilt. — Himantopus 7nexicanus. 

Forehead, spot above and below the eye, chin, throat, front and sides 
of neck, under parts, rump and tail coverts white ; rest of head, hind 



APPENDIX 373 

neck, back and wings black ; tail ashy white ; easily distinguished by 
extremely long red legs ; bill black. 

Female. — Back and scapulars brownish slate. Length, 15 in.; 
wing, 9 in. 

Hub. — Temperate North America from the Northern United 
States southward to the West Indies, Northern Brazil, and Peru. 
Rare in Eastern United States, except Florida. 

74. American Avocet. — Recurvirostra americana. 

Head and upper breast cinnamon ; chin white ; back brownish 
black ; easily distinguished by long pale blue legs and feet of same 
color. Length, i^Yz-i'^^ in. ; wing, 8>^ -9 in. 

In winter head, neck, and breast are white. 

Other names : white snipe, blue stocking. 

Hab. — Temperate North America, north to Saskatchewan, south 
to Central America. Rare in Eastern United States. 

75- Hudsonian Curlew. — Numenitis hudsonicus. 

General color grayish brown above ; under parts buff or yellowish 
white ; sides of head buff marked with narrow streaks ; crown brown 
with stripe of buff ; brown stripe from bill to ear coverts ; bill brown- 
ish black; feet and legs black. Length, 17 in.; wing, 9^ in. 

Hab. — All of North and South America, including the West In- 
dies. Breeds in the high North and winters chiefly south of the United 
States. 

Note. — Curlews are easily distinguished from the other waders by their bills, 
which curve downward. 

76. Eskimo CurleTW. — Numenitis borealis. 

General color, upper parts black margined with buff or yellowish 
white ; under parts yellowish white or bufT, the breast streaked ; top 
of head black marked with buff ; black line from bill to ear coverts ; 
rest of head and neck buff ; bill brownish black ; legs brown. 
Length, \y/z in. ; wing, 8X in. 

Resembles No. 75, but is easily distinguished by its smaller size. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, breeding in the Arctic regions and 
migrating south throughout South America. 

77' Pacific Godwit. — Limosa capponica baueri. 

Upper parts brownish gray ; lower parts reddish buff barred on 
flanks and under tail coverts with brown ; top of head and hind neck 



374 APPENDIX 

streaked with blackish brown ; bill brown, flesh color on basal half. 
Length, i6 in. ; wing, 8 3/ in. 

Hab, — Shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand 
and Australia to Kamchatka and Alaska. On American coast re- 
corded south of Alaska only from La Paz, Lower California. 

78. Long-billed Curlew. — Xumc-nius longii-ostris. 

" The giant among waders," easily distinguished by its size. Up- 
per parts reddish buff streaked on head and neck ; under parts light 
buff ; sides barred with black ; bill black ; legs and feet gray -brown. 
Length, 2 ft. ; wing, lo^ in. Often called sickle-bill and sickle-bill 
curlew. 

Hab. — Temperate North America, migrating south to Guatemala, 
Cuba, and Jamaica. Breeds in South Atlantic States in winter. 

79. V/illet. — Sy'npJit->nia semipalmaia. 

Upper parts brownish g^ay ; back barred with black ; breast and 
sides barred with brownish gray ; belly white ; bill black ; feet and 
legs gray. Length, 16 in. ; wing, Z}i in. 

Hab, — Temperate North America, south to the West Indies and 
Brazil. 

{a) Western Willet (Symphemia semipalmata speculifera). 

Slightly larger than No. 79, not easily distinguished, 
Hab. — Western North America to Mississippi Valley ; occasional 
on Atlantic Coast. 

80. Ruff. — Pavoncella fugnax. 

Malt-. — Easily distinguished by large ruff on neck ; neck and breast 
reddish brown ; abdomen and under tail coverts white ; much varia- 
ation in color in different specimens. Length, I2j4 in. ; wing, j%, in. 

Female. — Without ruff ; upper parts grayish brown ; back barred 
with brown ; bill brown ; legs and feet yellow. 

Hab. — Northern parts of Old World, straying occasionally to East- 
ern North America. 

81. Greater Yellow-legs. — To/anus mclanolencus. 

Upper parts gray marked with black ; breast spotted with black ; 
sides barred with black ; belly white ; bill black ; feet and legs 
Naples yellow. Length, 14-15 in. ; wing, 8 in. 



APPENDIX 375 

Hab. — America in general. Breeding from Iowa and northern 
Illinois, etc., northward, and migrating south to Chili and Argentine 
Republic. 

[a) Yellow-legs (Totanus flavipes) . 

Similar to No. 8i, only smaller. Length, ii in.; wing, 6^ in. 
Always more abundant than the larger birds. 

Hab. — North America in general, less common in the West than 
in the Eastern provinces. Migrating south in winter to Southern South 
America. 

Note. — I have seen the yellow-legs more abundant in North Dakota than 
anywhere in the East. 

82. White-rumped Sandpiper. — Tringa fuscicollis. 

Upper parts black, edged with rufous ; in winter brownish gray ; 
throat white ; neck, breast, and sides streaked and spotted with black ; 
bill, feet, and legs greenish black. Length, ^Yz in. ; wing, 5 in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, breeding in the high North. In 
winter the West Indies, Central and South America south to the Falk- 
land Islands ; occasional in Europe. 

83. Sanderling. — Calidris arenaria. 

Upper parts dark gray with black markings, centre of feathers 
black ; throat and upper breast spotted with black ; under parts 
white ; white bar on wing ; bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 8 in. ; 
wing, 5 in. Often called surf-snipe, beach bird and ruddy plover, usu- 
ally found on sea-shores. 

Hab. — Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeding in the Arctic and Subarctic 
regions, migrating in America south to Chili and Patagonia. 

84. Baird's Sandpiper. — Tringa bairdii. 

Upper parts and top of head gray, variegated with black ; sides of 
head and breast buff streaked with brown ; throat and under parts 
white ; bill, feet, and legs black. Length, ^yi in. ; wing, \% in. 

Hab. — Nearly the whole of North and South America, but chiefly 
the interior of North and the western portions of South America, south 
to Chili, Patagonia. Breeds in Alaska and on the Barren Grounds. 
Rare along the Atlantic Coast, and not yet recorded from the Pacific 
Coast of the United States. 



376 APPHXniX 

85. stilt Sandpiper. — Mirroj>,i//n,! Ai'fU2nA'/-us. 

Top of head. back, and sides of neck gray ; back gray ; uiuier 
parts white, streaked with gray on neck, breast, and lower tail coverts. 
In summer top of head is black streaked with yellowish white ; line 
from bill to eye rufous ; bill black ; legs and feet greenish gray. 
Length, 7>3-9>3 in. ; wing, 5-5 '3 in. 

Had. — Eastern Province of North America from Arctic regions to 
South America in winter. 

86. Purple Sandpiper. — THuii^ii miin'timu. 

SumtHfr. — Top of head, neck, back, rump, and scapulars blackish 
brown ; white bar on wing ; throat white ; breast grayish brown ; 
rest of under parts white. U'i>it<r. — l^pper parts black, rctlecting 
purple ; under parts white ; tlanks streaked with brown ; legs and 
feet yellow ; bill brown. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 4-4 in. 

Hab. — Northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere ; in North 
America chiefly the northeastern portions ; breeding in the high 
North, migrating in winter to the Eastern and Middle States, the Great 
Lakes, and the shores of the larger streams in the Mississippi Valley. 

87. Spotted Sandpiper. — Actiiis maciilariiu 

Upper parts brownish gray ; head and neck streaked with black ; 
back spotted with black ; back browner in winter ; under parts white 
spotted with black ; legs and feet gray ; bill bhick cilged with yellow. 
Length, /^z in. ; wing. 4'4 in. 

Hab. — North and South America, from Alaska south to Southern 
Brazil. Breeds throughout temperate North America ; less commonly 
on the Pacific Coast. Occasional in Europe. 

88. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. — TryHgites siibruficollis. 

Upper parts grayish brown ; under parts pale buff ; bill black ; legs 
and feet yellowish green. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 5 '4 in. 

Hab. — North America, especially in the interior. Breeds in the 
Yukon district and the interior of British America, northward to the 
Arctic coast ; South America in winter ;is far as IVuguay and Peru. 

89. Red-backed Sandpiper. — Tritr^a alpina />aii/uii. 

L^pper parts brown marked with black ; wings brownish gray ; breast 
light gray ; black patch on middle of belly ; lower belly white ; bill 
black ; legs and feet black. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 4-V in. 

Hab. — North America in general, breeding far north; Eastern 
Asia. 



APPENDIX 377 

90. Solitary Sandpiper. — Totanus solitarius. 

Upper parts olive brown ; back spotted with white ; breast streaked 
with black ; in winter upper parts grayish brown ; belly white ; bill 
greenish brown; legs and feet olive green. Length, %y^ in.; wing, 

SX in- 

Hab. — North America, breeding occasionally in the Northern 
United States, more commonly northward, and migrating southward 
as far as the Argentine Republic and Peru. 

91. Wandering Tattler. — Ileteraclitis incanus. 

Head, neck, and upper parts dark gray ; throat white spotted with 
gray ; under parts white barred with gray ; bill black ; feet and legs 
greenish yellow. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 6^ in. 

Hab. — Pacific Coast of America, from Norton Sound, Alaska, to 
Galapagos, and west to Kamchatka and Hawaiian Islands ; also the 
Eastern group of Polynesia. 

92. Belted Piping Plover. — /Jigialites tneloda circumcincta. 

Upper parts gray ; forehead and under parts white ; black band on 
breast and black band on forehead. Similar to No. 93. 

Hab. — Mississippi Valley, breeding from Northern Illinois north to 
Lake Winnipeg; more or less frequent eastward to the Atlantic 
Coast. 

93. Piping Plover. — /Jigialites meloJa. 

Upper parts pale green ; forehead and under parts white ; ring 
around neck white ; band on either side of breast, black ; band on 
forehead black ; bill orange, tip black ; legs and feet orange. Length, 
7 in. ; wing, i,)i in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, breeding from the coast of Vir- 
ginia northward to Newfoundland ; in winter. West Indies. 

94. Semipalmated Plover. — yEgialites semipalmata. 
Ring-neck Plover. 

Under parts and ring around neck white, except band on the breast 
encircling neck black; back brownish gray; spot under eye white; 
bill yellow, black tip ; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 63^ in. ; 
wing, 4|^ in. 

Hab. — Arctic and Subarctic America, migrating south throughout 
tropical America, as far as Brazil, Peru, and the Galapagos. 



378 APPENDIX 

95. Black-bellied Plover. — Charadrius s^uatarola. 

Upper parts black bordered with white ; tail white barred with 
black ; sides of head, neck, and under parts black, except white lower 
belly; bill black ; legs and feet gray. Length, ii in. ; wing, 7>^ in. 

Hab. — Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the northern hemisphere ; 
breeding far north, and migrating south in winter ; in America to the 
West Indies, Brazil, and Colombia. 

Note. — George H. Mackay {The Auk, Vol. IX., p. 146) says : "The black- 
bellied plover is in a great degree a tide bird, seeking a large portion of its food 
on those extensive sand flats left by the receding waters." And (p. 148) Mr. 
Mackay says : " I judge they [the black-belliesj have never been very abundant 
in America." I remain of the opinion, however, that the black-bellied plover 
are certainly as abundant in some of the Western States as they are on the At- 
lantic Coast, if not more so. Mr. A. Henry Higginson (Outing, December, 
1902, p. 278) says: "On May 21st we were driving along near a 'coolie' 
which ran in from Lac au.\ Morts [North Dakota], when we saw what we took 
to be a bunch of golden plover feeding near the water. My assistant went after 
them while I sat in the wagon and held the horse. The plover saw him and 
flushed before he got in range, flying directly over my wagon. I managed to 
drop one, and when I went to pick it up I found that it was an old black-belly, 
with a breast as black as jet and a very white back. On May 2Sth we went 
down to Lake Irwin, about ten miles from our camp, after any shore birds that 
might chance to be there. Lake Irwin has hard, sandy shores, an ideal place 
for black-bellies, and we found them in abundance. We got a great series of 
these birds, showing the variation in plumage, which is very great. A few old 
males seemed to like to stay alone, but most of them were in flocks of one hun- 
dred or more. 

96. Pacific Golden Plover. — Charadrius dominicus fiilvus. 

Very similar to No. 97, following. Length, 10^ in. ; wing, ^y^ in. 

Note. — " It is extremely difficult to distinguish the Pacific from the American 
golden plover, the only difference being its smaller size and more golden 
hue."— Elliot. 

Hab. — Breeding, from Northern Asia to the Pribelof Islands and 
coast of Alaska and south in winter through China and India to Aus- 
tralia and Polynesia. 

97. American Golden Plover. — Charadrius dominicus. 

Upper parts black, with golden dots, by which it is easily distin- 
guished ; sides of breast white ; sides of head and under parts black. 
Length, 10^ in. ; wing, 7 in. 

Hab. — Arctic America, except coast of Bering Sea, migrating south- 
ward throughout North and South America to Patagonia. 



APPENDIX 379 

98. Snowy Plover. — Mgialites nivosa. 

Forehead and under parts white ; band across crown, and broad 
patch on either side of breast black ; bill black. Length, (>% in. ; wing, 
4Xin. 

Hab. — Western United States, from California east to Kansas 
and Western Gulf States ; in winter both coasts of Central America 
and Western South America to Chili ; Western Cuba. 

99. Wilson's Plover. — Aigialites wilsonia. 

Lores, front of crown, and band on breast black ; rest of under parts 
and forehead white; back brownish gray. Length, "jyi in.; wing, 

4K in- 

Hab. — Coasts of North and South America from Long Island and 
Lower California southward. Casual to Nova Scotia. 

100. Surf-bird. — Aphriza virgata. 

Head, neck, and breast mottled with black and white ; white bar 
on wing ; white rump ; bill black ; legs and feet yellow. Length, 10 
in. ; wing, 7 in. 

Hab. — Pacific Coast of America from Alaska to Chili. 

101. Black Turnstone. — Arenaria melanocephala. 

Head, neck, and back brownish black ; spot in front of and be- 
hind the eye white ; throat and chest blackish brown ; under parts 
white ; bill black ; legs and feet greenish yellow. Length, 9 in. ; 
wing, 6 in. 

Hab. — Pacific Coast of North America from Point Barrow, Alaska, 
to Santa Margarita Island, Lower California ; breeding from Alaska 
south to British Columbia. 

102. Mountain Plover. — ^gialites moniana. 

Forehead and stripe over eye white ; stripe from bill to eye black ; 
upper parts grayish brown ; under parts dull white ; bill black ; feet 
and legs orange. Length, 8^ in. ; wing, 6 in. 

Hab. — Chiefly the Plains from Central Kansas to the Rocky Moun- 
tains ; north to the British boundary from Kansas; westward, espe- 
cially in winter, to Central and Southern California. Accidental in 
Florida. 

103. Turnstone. — Arenaria interpres. 

Top of head, back of neck, chin and throat, and upper back to 
sides of breast white, streaked on crown with black ; head marked 



38o APPENDIX 

with black ; back black ; rump white ; bill black ; feet and legs 
orange red. Length, 9 in, ; wing, 6 in. 

Hab. — Nearly cosmopolitan. In America from Greenland and 
Alaska to Straits of Magellan ; more or less common in interior of 
North America on the shores of Great Lakes and the larger rivers. 
Breeds in high latitudes. 

104. Least Sandpiper. — Tringa minutilla. 
Peep. 

Upper parts black, edged and tipped with buff or rufous ; upper 
throat white ; neck and breast white or buffy, streaked ; belly and 
sides white ; bill, legs and feet black. Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3^ in. 

Hab. — The whole of North and South America, breeding north of 
the United States. Accidental in Europe. 

105. Semipalmated Sandpiper. — Ereunetes pusillus. 
Ox-eye ; peep. 

Upper parts black margined with brownish gray ; breast streaked 
or spotted with black ; under parts white ; bill, feet, and legs black. 
Length, 6% in. ; wing, 3^ in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, breeding north of United States. 
South in winter to South America and West Indies. 

106. Aleutian Sandpiper. — Tringa couesi. 

Head, neck, and back black ; wings gray brown ; white bar across 
wing ; rump brownish black ; throat, neck, and under parts white 
streaked with brownish black ; bill gray black ; feet and legs yellow. 

" In winter resembles purple sandpiper so closely that it is impossible to give 
recognizable character to distinguish them apart." — Elliot. 

Hab. — Aleutian Islands and coast of Alaska, north to Kowak River, 
west to Commander Islands, Kamchatka. Length, 7]/^-g in. ; wing, 
A'AS in- 

107. Curlew Sandpiper. — Triitga ferruginea. 

Upper parts brownish gray ; sides of head and throat white streaked 
with gray. In summer back and scapulars are black margined with 
rusty ; sides of head, neck, and breast rufous ; bill, legs, and feet green- 
ish black. Length, 8'^ in. ; wing, 5 in. 

Hab. — The Old World in general ; occasional in Eastern North 
America and Alaska. 



APPENDIX 381 

108. Western Sandpiper. — Ereunetes occidentaUs. 

Similar in size and pattern to semi-palmated sandpiper ; bill longer. 

Hab. — ChieHy Western Province of the United States, occasional 
eastward to the Atlantic Coast ; breeding far north and migrating in 
winter to Central and South America. 

109. Wilson's Phalarope. — Phalaropus tricolor. 

Female. — Larger than male. In winter, upper parts gray ; rest of 
plumage white. In summer, head light gray on top ; white line over 
eye ; throat and under parts white ; legs, feet, and bill black. Length, 
9>^-io in. ; wing, 5X in- 

Male. —Smaller and duller. 

Hab. — Temperate North America, chiefly the interior; to South 
America in winter. 

no. Northern Phalarope. — Phalaropus lobatus. 

Female. — Larger than male. Winter, back and wings gray ; chin, 
throat, and under parts white. Sumtner, head, neck, and back gray ; 
white spots above and below the eye ; upper breast chestnut ; chin 
and under parts white ; legs and feet gray ; bill black. Length, 7 in. ; 
wing, 4 in. 

Male. — Duller and smaller. 

Hab. — Northern portions of Northern hemisphere, breeding in 
Arctic latitudes. South in winter to the tropics. 

111. Red Phala.rope. — Crymophilus fulicarius. 

Female. — Head, chin, forehead, and crown black ; sides and line 
around the eye white ; back black ; under parts and neck cinnamon ; 
bill yellow, black at tip ; legs and feet dull olive. Length, 7;^ -8 in. ; 
wing, 5X-5K in- Winter, head, neck, and under parts white, except 
occiput and around eyes black ; back gray. 

Male. — Similar, duller. 

Hab. — Northern parts of northern hemisphere, south on Atlantic 
Coast to Middle States ; to South America on Pacific Coast. 

112. Killdeer Plover. — ALgialitis vocifera. 
Killdee. 

Forehead, throat, and belly white; spot behind the eye and ring 
around the neck white ; ring around the neck and band on the breast 
black ; crown and back grayish brown ; rump and upper tail coverts 
rufous ; bill black ; legs and feet grayish yellow. Length, 10^ in. ; 
wing, dy^ in. 



382 APPENDIX 

Hab. — Temperate North America, breeding north to Newfound- 
land and Manitoba, migrating to the West Indies and Central and 
Northern South America and Bermuda. 

113. American Oyster Catcher. — Hcemaiopus palliatus. 

Head, neck, and upper breast black ; back and wing coverts 
brown ; upper tail coverts white ; base of tail white ; lower breast and 
belly white; bill red; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 17-21 in.; 
wing, loX in. 

Hab. — Sea-coasts of temperate and tropical America from New 
Jersey and Western Mexico to Patagonia ; occasional or accidental on 
Atlantic Coast, north to Massachusetts and Grand Menon. 

114. Black Oyster Catcher. — Ilatnatopus bachmani. 

Head and neck black ; rest of plumage blackish brown ; bill red ; 
legs and feet flesh color. Length, 17 in. ; wing, 9^ in. 

Hab. — Pacific Coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands 
to La Paz, Lower California. 

Note. — " Oyster catchers are generally maritime birds, and resort to the outer 
beaches in search of clams, mussels, etc., exposed by the tide. Their strong 
bill is used as an oyster knife to force open the shells of these bivalves." — Chap- 
man. 

The Jacanas are the only remaining family of shore birds. Only 
one of these, the Mexican Jacana is found in North America. 

Hab. — Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, south to Central America. 
Of no importance to sportsmen. 

BOOK IV 

CRANES, COOTS, RAILS AND REED-BIRDS, WILD PIGEONS AND 

DOVES 

115. American Coot. — FnUca americana. 
Mud-hen, Crow Duck. 

Plumage slate or blue black, paler below; edge of wing and under 
tail coverts white ; bill white; legs and feet gray green. Length, 15 
in. ; wing, 7^ in. Often called blue peter. 

Hab. — North America from Greenland and Alaska southward to 
the West Indies and Central America. 

Note. — This bird is familiar to all duck shooters as the mud-hen. It flies 
slowly a short distance above the water and is not a difficult mark. It was not 



APPENDIX 383 

consfdered a game bird a few years ago, but as ducks have vanished, sportsmen 
shoot coots for the want of something better. It is said they are edible when 
skinned. 

116. Sand-hill Crane. — Grus mexicana. 

Plumage slaty or gray brown ; top of head bare but with black 
hairs on dull reddish skin. Length, 40 in. ; wing, 21^ in. 

Hab. — Southern half of North America. Now rare near the Atlan- 
tic Coast, except in Georgia and Florida. 

(a) Little Brown Crane {Grus canadensis). 

Similar to the sand-hill crane (No. 116), only smaller. Wing, i8|^ 
in. 

Hab. — Arctic and Subarctic America, breeding from the fur coun- 
tries and Alaska to the Arctic Coast ; migrating south in winter into 
the Western United States. 

117. Whooping Crane. — Grus americana. 
White Crane. 

Plumage white ; primaries black ; top of head and sides of throat 
dull red. Length, 50 in. ; wing, 25 in. 

Hab. — Interior of North America from the fur countries to 
Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and from Ohio to Colorado. Formerly on 
the Atlantic Coast at least casually to New England. 

Note. — There are fifteen species of cranes in the world. The three above 
given are those found in North America. Chapman says : " Our species mi- 
grate in flocks, but are solitary rather than gregarious at other times of the 
year. Their voice is loud and and resonant." Young cranes are palatable. 
Old birds are more often tough and undesirable. 

118. Black Rail. — Porzana jamaicensis. 

Back and wings brownish black barred or spotted with white ; head, 
breast and upper belly slate color ; nape dark reddish brown. Length. 
5 in. ; wing, 2%f in. 

Hab. — United States. Wintering south to South America, north 
to Massachusetts, Northern Illinois, and Oregon. 

119. YelloAV Rail. — Porzana noveboracensis. 

Plumage brownish yellow ; upper parts black, bordered with buf¥ ; 
breast yellow ; middle of belly white ; sides and lower belly brown, 
barred with white. A rare bird. Length, 7 in. ; wing, 3^ in. 

Hab. — Eastern North America, Nova Scotia, and Hudson Bay, 
west to Utah and Nevada. 



384 APPENDIX 

120. Sora. — Porzana Carolina. 
Carolina Rail. 

Upper plumage olive brown ; base of bill and crown black ; breast, 
throat, sides of head slate color ; tlanks barred with black, and white. 
Length, Zyi in. ; wing, 4X in- 

Hab. — North America, breeding from Illinois and New York north 
to Hudson Bay. Wintering in the Gulf States and Northern South 
America. 

121. Virginia Rail. — Rallus virginiamis. 

Very similar in color and pattern to King Rail, No. 123. Upper 
parts reddish brown marked with black ; belly and sides barred with 
white ; much smaller than king rail. Length, 9 >^ in. ; wing, ^Yz in. 

Hab. — North America, breeding from Illinois and Pennsylvania 
to Manitoba and Labrador, and wintering from same States to Cen- 
tral America. 

122. Clapper Rail. — Rallus longirostris crepitatis. 
Salt-water Marsh Hen. 

Upper parts olive gray ; wings and tail brown ; wing coverts pale 
cinnamon ; throat white ; sides and belly barred with white. Length, 
\\yT. in. ; wing, 5 in. 

Easily distinguished from king rail, since latter is much browner in 
color. 

Hab. — Eastern and Southern States, in salt-water marshes ; breed- 
ing from Connecticut southward. 

[a) Florida clapper rail. ) Same as 122, from sportsman's point 
ip) Louisiana clapper rail. ) of view. 

123. King Rail. — Rallus ehgans. 
Fresh-water Marsh Hen. 

Upper parts brown marked with black ; wings and tail olive brown ; 
throat white ; belly and sides barred with white ; neck and breast cin- 
namon. Length, 15 in.; wing, 6>< in. 

Hab. — Eastern United States in fresh-water marshes, breeding to 
Missouri and Connecticut. Wintering from Virginia southward. 
Strays north to Wisconsin and Maine. 

{a) The Corn-crake. — i^Crex crex). 

About the size of the king rail. No. 123. General color brownish 
buff, marked with dark brown or black on back ; sides barred with 



APPENDIX 385 

white ; middle of belly white ; short bill. This rail is an Old World 
species of casual occurrence in F^astern North America. 

Note. — Rails have long, narrow bodies which enable them to run through the 
reeds and marsh grasses. They are only found in marshes covered with reeds, 
wild rice, or rushes. Their long toes enable them to run about on lily-pads, 
floating grasses, and soft mud. 

124. Ground Dove. — Columbigallina terrestris. 

Top of head slate color ; glossed with blue on head and neck ; back 
brownish gray ; outer tail feathers tipped with white ; forehead and 
under parts vinaceous ; easily distinguished by small size, about half 
the size of the mourning dove or common wild dove. Length, 624^ in. ; 
wing, 1)4. in. ; tail 2>^ in. 

Hab. — South Atlantic and Gulf States, West Indies, and Northern 
South America; breeding from South Carolina to Louisiana. 

'' This dove frequents both pines and 'hummocks,' lake shores and old fields, 
and in some Southern towns is a familiar bird of the quieter streets. By no 
means shy. Favorite roosting places densely foliaged orange-trees." — Chap- 
man. 

125. White-winged Dove. — Melopelia kucoptera. 

Plumage bluish gray ; easily distinguished by large white patch on 
wings ; outer under tail feathers tipped with white ; sides of head and 
neck iridescent green marked with steel-blue spot. Length, 12 in.; 
wing, dYz in. ; tail, 4^ in. 

Hab. — Arizona, New Mexico, Texas to Central America; occa- 
sional in Florida. 

126. Mourning Dove. — Zenaidura nuicroura. 
Carolina Dove. 

Slaty brown above ; under parts red on neck and breast, buff be- 
low ; neck iridescent: tail long, 5^ in.; small black mark below the 
ear ; under feathers tipped with white ; resembles the wild pigeon, 
but is smaller and brown on the rump instead of slate color ; flies with 
loud whistling sound, made by the wings ; nests in trees, but on the 
ground when there are no trees. Length, ii>^-i3 in. ; wing, 5^4' in. 

Hab. — North America, from Maine, Canada, and Oregon, south to 
Panama and West Indies. 

.\^ote — Mr. Shields, the editor of Recreation, claims that the dove is not a 
legitimate game bird and that it should not be killed at any time. He says : 
" It is a beautiful and harmless creature, too pretty and too innocent to be re- 
garded as game. There are few States in the Union where sportsmen continue 
to kill these birds. " 



386 APPENDIX 

In a recent bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture, it is 
stated that the dove is protected at all times in Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, West 
Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Wyoming, Arkansas, and the District of 
Columbia. Ohio has prohibited tlove-shooting since the bulletin was issued. 
It would seem that the States are inclined to follow Mr. Shields. Dove-shoot- 
ing, however, ii still a very popular sport in most of the Western and Southern 
States. 

In Central and Southern Arizona in the summer, the white- winged dove is 
found in great cjuantities. This is probably the finest shooting in the world. 
Experienced wing-shooters are frequently able to kill a hundred of these swift 
flying birds within an hour or two. These birds are so numerous in the farming 
regions as to be almost considered a pest at times. — Report of Governor Brodie 
to the Secretary of the Interior. 

127, Red-billed Pigeon, — Columba fliwirostris. 

Head, neck, and breast purplish wine-color ; back olive brown, with 
bronze reflections ; other portions slate-colored ; base of bill red. 
Length, 14 in. ; wing, 734^ in. 

Hab. — Texas to Arizona. 

128. Passenger Pigeon. — Kctopistes migratorius. 

Slate blue above ; throat and breast red, becoming white toward 
tail ; under outside feathers of the tail white ; neck iridescent, reflect- 
ing red, green, and purple. 

Fetnale. — Duller; neck less iridescent; tail long, 8^ '"■ Length, 
15-17 in, ; wing, 8^ in. 

Hah. — Formerly, North America from Atlantic to the Great Plains, 
now e.xtinct or nearly so. 

A^ote. — The Ornithological Union has proposed that the term " game " be 
restricted to four orders. — Anatida, the swimmers Rallida, the rails, coots, 
mud-hens, lAmicohv, the shore birds, and Gal/inte, the turkeys, grouse, part- 
ridges, etc. This e-xcludcs from the proposed game list, pigeons and doves, 
and the cranes and reed-birds. 

F. Henry Yorke, writing of the disappearance of the wild-pigeons, says : 
" There is only one possible solution, and I believe it to bo a true one. They 
were drowned ! At first I was skeptical on the point. Could they not rise above 
or outride a storm, liang on, pay off or run before it? Many or most of them, 
although exhausted, would reach a friendly shore. They did not, and the stern, 
hard fact remains, that in that manner they must surely have met their fate. A 
report was current among the sailors and masters of ships, that from Key West 
across the Gulf, ships plowed their way through dead pigeons, and that the 
shores were lined with them." This occurred in 1883, Mr. Yorke says. But the 
pigeons disappeared before that date in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and 
elsewhere. 



APPENDIX 387 

ijg. Band-tailed Pigeon. — Coluiid>a fasciata. 

I lead, ni'ck, and lower parts ashy vinaceoiis piirple, lighter on the 
alnlonicn ; above i;ray ; olivaceous on the back, bluish on the rump ; 
narrow half-collar of white across the upper portion of nape, feathers 
beneath this dull metallic golden green reflecting bronze ; bill and feet 
yellow. 

Femalt'. — Smaller and more gray. 

Hah. — Pacific States of United States to table-lands of Meyico. 

130. Zenaida Dove. — Zi-naii/a zt-naliia. 

Similar to the common wild dove, the mourning dove No. 126. 
Tail shorter and more square, lipped with gray ; under i^arts vinaceous. 
Length, io-io>^ in. ; wing, 6 A, in. ; tail, 3I2-4 in. 

Hab. — Florida Keys. 

131. Blue-headed Quail Dove. ^S/,r>>i(>fiiis <]'<ni<>(Y/>/i(i/,i. 

Upper parts reddish brown ; throat black ; blue crowned ; white 
line beneath the eye. Length, 11 in. ; wing, 5>2-6 in. ; tail, 4J^-5 in. 
Nub. — West Indies, Florida Keys. 

(<?) YV/t- Quail 7)o7>f [Geotrygon viartinicii). 

Plumage wine red iridescent ; under parts lighter, white toward tail ; 
white band below eyes. Length, 1 1 in. ; wing, 6% in. ; tail, 5 in. 

Hab. — West Indies, Florida Keys in smnmer. Very similar to 
No. 131 both in habits and appearance. 

Note — These doves are called (luail-dovos, since in form they resemble the 
quail or ])artridge. They have short, broad tails without whiti- tijis to the 
under feathers — 

" A {ground dove found in wooded regions." — Apgar. 

132. White-fronted Dove. — EngyptiUx albifrous. 

Upper parts brownish olive ; head and neck iridescent metallic 
purple and bronze ; forehead white; chin and belly white ; breast wine 
color. Length, 12 in.; wing, (i% in. ; tail, 4^ in. 
Hab. — Southern Texas, Mexico, Central America. 

133. White-crowned Pigeon. — Coliiwbn huiocf'hahi. 

Plumage slate color, with white crown, pale buff on female ; neck 
reflecting metallic green. Length, 12-14 in.; wing, qy^ in. 
Hab. — Southern Florida. 



388 Am':NI)IX 

134. Inca Dove. — ScirddJVlhi iiun. 

Upper parts jjiayisli l)rii\vii ; lower parts ashy lilae in front; rich 
flieslniil on winijs ; oiilcr I. ill tcalliers lipjied with while ; sealed ap- 
pearanec (hie to blaek marks on feathers. ()li(ii called sealed dove. 
Length, 8 in. ; wini;, 3 '4 in.; tail, 4 in. 

Hal). — Arizon.i and Texas, Kio ( "ir.inde X'.illey, south to Central 
Amcriea. 

Notf. — 'I'lic (lisliihulidii (itlhr i)ii;c(>iis iiiiil doves in Ndilh Anu'iica is somc- 
wliiit siiniliir to Itiiit of tiic |)iiitiiil^;cs. Wo have ohsiMvcd lliat only one partridK*' 
(Mol)-\vliile) has a j;eneral distribution over a larj^c; area, and (liat the remaining 
partridges (the l)lne and sealed ])artri(lges) are dislriliuted over a eoniparatively 
small area lii the Southwest and on the i'aeilie Coast. 'I'here are twelver pig- 
eons and doves in North Amcriea. ()nly one kV-^k^ (ihc moiirnin}; dov<') and 
one pigeon ((he passenger) were ot c.i'iiciai di.lrilintioii. The other pigeons 
aiid (hives arc fovind on the I'.k itir ( 'oasi and m (he SmUhwcstern States, and 
(a lew ol (hem) in Sondieiii I'lmida and (he I'hirida K.eys. 'I'herer are several 
blue pigeons and one si ah-d dovi' ((he bica (h)ve) which has a scaled appear- 
ance caused by the bi;u k tcaliua niaiiani;s hkc; those of tlu' scaled partridge. 
The scali'd partridge and the scaled dove arc bo(h found in 'I'exas. 

In the South and West doves ;irc somedmes l)aited. i<'ood is dis(iil)u(ed 
daily in ii certain lichl, and when tlu; doves arc in (he haliit ot resorting to this 
field (hey are shot Inini amlmsh as (hey Hy in and onl. The baiting of doves is 
])i'(ihibi(cd liv law in (icoii;i.i and perhaps elsewhere. 

135. Bobolink. — noUiluHiyx oryzivoi us. 
Rocd-bird. Rice-bird. 

Male, ("leiiecil color in sprinv; hl.iek ; n.-ijie yellowisli brown; 
p.itrh on side of hre.ist, the seapiilars, ;ind niinp white; liill hliie-hlaek. 
I,en]i;lh, 7 '1 in. ; winjf, 314 in. Inaiitmnn reseinl)lcs fem.ale. 

i\'i>ialt\ Yellowish beneath ; two stripes on top of he.id .and iipi)er 
ji.irts throiiv;ii()iit, inehidinv;- winj;s, except b.iek of neck .and rinnp d.irk 
brown feathers cdiL>ed wilh brownish yellow. 

llab. I'".istern Uiiiled Si.ites lo Wesiern pl.iins. .Sonih to West 
indies in winter. North lo.Sonilicrn C.in.id.i. 

(<;) Wrstrrn Boluiliiik i^Dolit liotiv y OiVziTonis albittucha'). 
llab 1 ).ikol.i. westward to IM.ili ,iiid Ncv.id.i, north lo M.iiiiloba. 

Notf. — " There an; no reed-birds in California, but a dozen species of spar- 
rows and finches mastpicrade as such" — Yf,ir /look, l'>ep,t>tmi-iit of Ai^icult- 
uif. 181)9. 

Many spairows and other small birds are sold as reed-birds in the ICastern 
markets 



APPRNDIX 389 

Kvrry one knows iJial our ^Iccsoiik- minstrel of (lie Norlhcrn meadows, wlio 
fills lh(; June air will) hiirstin^ liiihbli-s of (inkliri)^' mi-luily and is called bolio- 
link, chanj^'es his name and dress an<l jjoes Sonlli to lie slain and (-aten as the 
rced-hird, and the practice is so old and appeals so strongly to man's most cortr 
mandinf,' or^an that we must fry to Ixrconu! r(;concil(;d to a flamin); wickivlness. 
Hut we do rebel whcrn we sec; our familiar friends the robins offered for sale in 
the South, and we ar(! ready to weep when we see wood-thrushes, divine 
psalmists in the North, killi^d as le){itimale (juarry on llu- (iulf Coast, cvcm 
tliou};li they !»• shy and silent ther<-, and, ludicrous to say, in sonic Im Mlilies 
known as swamp <iuail. — I,. I'. .Sprague, in ()iilin,i;. 

I Iiavc, |)I;i(C(l tlic l)(il)(»liiik ;il. llic cud ol my list, ;i ])l;i(c iikisI con- 
vcni(;iit to sUiki; it off, .iiul I liojx! before loii^( lliis h.-iiidsoinc soiij^-Wird 
of ihi; meadows will iiol he ,111 object of piiisiiit. 

I would urj^c the sportsmen of the Southern States to exclude tlie 
robiti and the meadow-lark from tin; fjaiiie-list. I would, too, inj^e ail 
of the States to prohibit the shootinjj of the smaller shore birds whieh 
arc not desirable as marks or food. 'IMie l.trj^er waders, such as the 
avocet and stilt, whieh have become so ran; .is to indie.ite their exter- 
mination, mij^ht well be protcc led ,it ,ill liiiKts. The wood-diiek .ind 
the woodcock should Ik; protected for a term of ye.irs, .iiid ihe ()|)eii 
season for these l)irds should then be a short autumn {not suwnicr) 
season in tlie South as well as in the North. 

In conclusion I would aj^ain \\x\^v. the iMimedi.ile csbiblisliment of 
bird parks, where the jf.'uiKr birds can find the safe refuj^e at all times 
which they now iiave iti the Yellowstone I'ark. I again urge all St.ite 
game officials not to devote their entire energies to the propagation of 
fancy foreign fowls which can never survive in unprotected fields, but 
to give th(rir attention to the restoration of our n;itive ganu; birds, the 
grouse and p.irtridges, and to tin- protection of ;ill game in the sjjritig 
of the y<'ar, insisting evcTywhertr upon I he passage; of laws (when; l^'gi''- 
lation is needed) to stop the s|)ring shooting, and looking well to the 
enforcement of such laws. 

Ohio has stopped the breeding of |ilieasanls. 



INDEX 



Abbott, quoted, 269 

Aleutian sandpiper, 380 

Allen's ptarmigan, 353 

American avocet, 316, 317, jj'^ 

American coot, 383 

American eider duck, 202, 366 

American golden plover, 307, 308-313 

378 
American merganser, 241, 242, 363 
American oyster catcher, 382 
American scoter duck, 200, 201, 366 
American woodcock, 248-267, 372 
Atwater's prairie hen, 349 
Avocets, 316 

Bache, Mk. Rene, 356 

Baird's sandpiper, 375 

Baldpate, 369 

Band-tailed pigeon, 336, 345, 387 

Bartramian sandpiper, 283, 371 ; shoot- 
ing, 284-286 

Bay bird shooting, 287-293; blinds. 
288 ; decoys, 288 ; guns and cos- 
tume, 292 
Bay-birds, 248, 249 
" Bay coot," 200 
Bay snipe, 248 
Beach robin, 296 
Beagles, 18 
Bean goose, 153 
Belted piper, 315 
Belted piping plover, 377 
Big black-head duck, 186 
Big blue-bill duck, 186 
Big broad-bill duck, 186 
Big-headed snipe, 267 
Black-bellied plover, 307, 313, 314, 378 
Black-bellied sandpiper, 297 



Black-bellied tree-duck, 160, 360 
Black brant, 158, 159, 359 
Black-breasted Bob-white, 108 

Black-duck, 220-222 ; night shooting, 
222, 223 

Black-grouse, 100 

Black-head duck, 186, 361 

Black-headed Bob-white, 108 

Black-mallard, 220, 221, 222 

Black-necked stilt, 316, 318, 372 

Black oyster catcher, 382 

Black rail, 383 

Black-tailed godwit, 298 

Black turnstone, 379 

Blinds, 288 

Blue-bill duck, i86, 361 

Blue goose, 154, 360 

Blue-grouse, 96, 351 ; tameness, 97. 
98 ; disappearance in winter, 99 ; 
guns and shot for shooting, 99 

Blue-headed quail dove, 387 

Blue-winged teal, 225, 226, 232, 367 

Bob-whites, 107, log, 356 

Bobolink, 388 

Bogardus, quoted, 278 

Boobies, 196 

Brant, 158, 159, 359 

Brant-goose, 158, 359 

Broad-bill duck, i86 

Brooks, Allan, quoted, 193 

Brown crane, 323 

Buff-breasted sandpiper, 376 

Buff-breasted sheldrake, 242 

Buffle-head duck, 193, 362 ; shooting, 

194 
Bull-head, 308 

Burroughs, John, quoted, loo 
Butter-ball duck, 362 



391 



392 



INDEX 



Cackling goosk, 153,358 

California mountain partridge, 107, 
125-127, 354, 355 

California valley partridge, 107, 125, 
355 ; running qualities, 127-129 ; 
shooting, 128-130 

Canada goose, 148, 359 

Canada-grouse, 100-102, 352 

Canadian ruffed-grouse, 60, 351 

Canard noir, 220 

Canvas-back duck, 171, 361 ; destruc- 
tion, 172 ; food, 173, 174 ; methods 
of shooting, 175, 176, 179, 180; inju- 
rious effect of carp, 177, 178 ; curi- 
osity, 179 

Carolina dove, 336, 385 

Carolina rail, 327, 332, 384 

Carp, their effect on canvas-backs, 
177, 178 

Castalia Club, 26, 27 

Chesapeake Bay dog, 18, 167 

Chestnut-bellied scaled partridge, 132, 
354 

Cinnamon-teal, 225, 226, 230, 367 

Clapper-rail, 327, 384 

Cocker-spaniel, 18 

Cody, William F., quoted, 47 

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, 350 

Common brant, 158 

Common eider duck, 202 

Common wild goose, 359 

" Coot-foot," 318 

Coots, 197 ; shooting, 197-199 

Corn-crake, 384 

Coues, E. , quoted^ 60, 79, 325 

Coyolco's Bob-white, 108 

Crane Creek Club, 26 

Cranes, 323-326, 383 

Creek blue-bill ducks, 186 

Creek broad-bill ducks, 186 

Crow-duck, 382 

Cumming, Mr., quoted, 175, 206 

Curlew sandpiper, 380 

Curlews, 294, 304, 305, 373, 374 

Decoys, 288 

De Guise, quoted, 57, 58 



Denny, Judge, 52 

Denny, Mr. John, 52 

Dipper duck, 194 

Dogs, various kinds described, 14-16; 
training, 16-18; cost, 19; for par- 
tridge shooting, 120 ; for mallard 
shooting, 215 ; for snipe shooting, 
281 

Doves, 334-336, 346. 385-388; shoot- 
ing, 337-339 

Dowitcher, 294, 295, 371 

Drury, Professor, quoted, 5 

Duck-call, 219 

Ducks, 160, 161, 171 et seq., 360^/ seq. 

Dunlin, 294, 297, 298 

Dusky-duck, 220, 367 

Dusky-grouse, 96, 351 

Eastern willet, 303 
Eider duck, 197, 202, 203, 366 
Elliot, quoted, 199 
Elliot's Rio Grande turkey, 349 
Emperor goose, 153, 359 
English dunlin, 297, 298 
English pheasant, 58, 348 
English setter, 15 
English snipe, 282, 371 
Eskimo curlew, 305, 373 
European golden plover, 307, 313 
European ring-neck plover, 315 
European snipe, 250, 371 
European teal, 232, 368 
European woodcock, 250, 267, 372 
Evans, Mr. Wallace, quoted, 56, 57 
Evermann's ptarmigan, 353 

Field plover, 283 
Fish duck, 243 
Florida Bob-white, 107, 356 
Florida clapper-rail, 384 
Florida dusky duck, 367 
Florida wild turkey, 46, 349 
" Fool-hens," 97 
Forester, quoted, 284 
Franklin's grouse, 100, 352 
Fresh-water marsh hen, 384 
Fulvous tree-duck, 160, 360 



INDEX 



393 



Gadwall, 370 

Gadwall duck, 239, 240, 370 

Gallinaceous birds, 41 ; methods of 
taking, 42 ; characteristics, 42, 43 ; 
varieties, 44 

Gambels partridge, 107 ; range, 132 ; 
described, 133, 355 ; trapping, 134 

Game birds, destruction of, 28, 31, et 
seq., protection of, 33-37 

Game clubs, organization and regula- 
tion, 21-27 I New Jersey clubs, 28, 
29 

Game parks, 20, 21 ; necessity for, 

195. 196 

Game preserves, 20, 21 

Godman's Bob-white, 108 

Godwits, 298, 299, 372, 373 

Golden back, 308 

Golden-eye duck, 192, 193, 363 

Golden plover, 308 ; shooting, 309-313 

Goosander, 242 

Gordon setter, 15, 16 

Gray-backed snipe, 296 

Gray-backs, 296 

Gray crane, 323 

Gray duck, 239, 370 

Gray ruffed-grouse, 60, 351 

Grayson's Bob-white, 124 

Greater snow-goose, 360 

Greater yellow-legs, 294, 299-301, 374 

Green-wing duck, 195 

Green-winged teal, 225, 226, 368 

Greenwood, Mr. Ralph, quoted, 296 

Ground dove, 346, 385 

Grouse, 60. 349-352, shooting season, 
61, 62 ; destruction of, 62 ; shooting 
in England and America, 63, 64 

Guatemala Bob-white, 108 

Guns, selection of, 9-12 ; accidents. 10 ; 
use of, 12, 13 ; for partridge shooting, 
115; woodcock. 261; snipe, 280; 
bay-birds, 292 ; golden plover, 313 

Harlequin duck, 202, 364 
Heath-hen, 71. 72, 350 
Higginson, Mr. A. H., quoted^ 378 
Hooded-merganser, 241, 244, 363 



Hornaday, Mr., 5 
Howe, Dr. W. H., quoted, 143 
Hudsonian curlew, 304,373 
Hudsonian godwit, 294, 299, 372 
Hutchins goose, 153, 358 

Inca dovk, 388 
Irish setter, 15, 16 

Jacanas, 382 
Jack curlew, 304 
Jack snipe, 282, 294 

Kill-deer plover, 247. 307, 381 

Killdee, 3S1 

King eider duck, 202, 366 

King-rail, 327, 332, 384 

Knot, 294, 296, 297, 371 

Labrador duck, 361 
Least sandpiper, 380 
Leffingwell, Mr., quoted, 344 
Lesser Canada goose, 153 
Lesser prairie-hen, 349 
Lesser scaup duck, 362 
Lesser snow-goose, 156. 360 
Lesser yellow-legs, 294, 301, 302 
Lewis, Dr., quoted^ 280 
Little black-head duck, 186 
Little blue-bill duck, 186 
Little broad-bill duck, 186 
Little brown crane, 323 
I-ittle ring plover, 307, 315 
Little saw-bill duck, 244 
Long-billed curlew, 304, 374 
Long-billed dowitcher, 295, 371 
Long-tailed duck, 201, 364 
Louisiana clapper-rail, 384 

Mack.w, George H. quoted, 378 
Mallard duck, 208-210, 368; shooting. 

211-218 ; abundance of, 211, 212, 

216 ; dogs, 215 ; call, 219 
Marbled godwit, 294, 298, 299, 372 
Marlin, 299, 304 
Marsh hen, 384 
Marsh snipe, 371 



394 



INDEX 



Mask<'(l Moh-wlntc, la.j, 356 

M:iskc,l (link, .i(>5 

Ma.ss(Mi:i piirtridm!, 107, 135, 130, 357 ; 

rmifji", i3'j ; taiiu'iicss, 136 
May-l>ii'(l, 296 
Mi'ij^aiisi'is, a4i-a.)4, 3()3 
McisliDii, Mr. W. M., <///i'/f</, 3.11) 
MfxiiMii |iU'ana, 38a 
Mfxii-aii Imkcv, jt) 
Miller, Mr., i/iiofc,/, ^i) 
Mongolian plu-asant, 58, 348 
Mot t It'll iliii'k, a'jo, 367 
Mi)imtain jiartriil);!', 355 
Mxiintain jilovcr, 307, 314 
Mourniiin' <lovc, 385 
Miul-ticn, 38a 
Mild snipe, 267 

Ni'.I.SDN'S riAKMIC.AN, 353 

Nittany CMiili, 'Ji, S" 

NiMllieiii plialaiiipe, 31H, 311), 381 

Ol.l)-Syi)AW DIU'K, 197, JOI, 20J, 3().| ; 

shootiiifj, 197-199 
Oregon nilTeil-grouse, (io, 351 
Ottawa C'liil), ^3, 54 
Ox-eye, 380 

I'Acii'ic KimoK mu'iv, aoa 

I'ac-il'ie {jodw'it, a98, 373 

I'aeilie );i)lden plover, 307, 378 

I'apaliote, a83 

rartridj^e, Hol)-\vhit<\ 356 

t'artridj.jes, 106, 354-357; youni;, no; 
luijjratioii, no, \\\ ; in uiiilei, 111, 
iia; raivi;<-, ii.t, 113; pioiectioii ol, 
113, n.| ; .shout inj;, 115 lao ; guns 
and shot, 115, 1 n) ; liabits, lai, laa ; 
percentage killed, ia3; alliinos, 12.). 

Passenger pigeon, 336, 339, 386 

Pectoral sandpiper, 21)1, 305, 306, 372 

Pet']), 380 

Phalaropes, 318-320, 381 

Pheasants, introilueed into the United 
States, 53 ; shooting, 53-55; breed- 
ing, 56-58 ; Mongolian and l''.nglish, 
58. 35a 



•led dink, 361 

'ii'.''""-. .f.n .U''. .f.iy -M5, jS". 387 

I 'il \\ illet," 303 
'in lail ihiek, 336, 237, 369 
'innatetl grouse, 349 
'iping plover, 307, 315, 377 
Movers, 307 315, 377-379 
MiinuMl partridge, 355 
'ointcrs, com|)aied with seders, 11 
'oiiil sheldrake, ■.•.|.i 
'rairie grouse, (15, 6() ; shooting, 6f)- 

71 
'rairie-hen or chicken, 65, 349 
•rairie pigeon, 283 
'rairic sharp-tailed grouse, 350 
'rincess Anne Club, 2() 
'Iniinigan, 103, 352, 353 ; wildness, 

lo.| 
'iiel.lo 1U>1. -white, 108 
'uiileis, -.roii, jof) 
'nrph- sandpiper, 37(1 

• uAll,. ir^ railiidgf 
hiail dove, (83 

■iAii.s, 327, 328, 383, 38.); shooting, 

338 33-! 
Red-hacked sandpiper, 297, 376 
■{ed-hilled pigtuin, 386 
■ied-breasled merganser, 241, 243, 363 
-led-breast plover, 2i)() 
{ed-breasled snipe, J(i7, 29.), 295, 371 
■ted enih'U, .'in) 
<c,\ head <hi.k, iHi, 182, 3(>2 ; de- 

sliiielion ol, 183, i8| ; shooting, 184, 

i8', 
\ed plialaro|)e, 318, 311), 381 
•ied sandpiper, 296 
'teed-bird, 333, 388 
Iveinhardt's ptarmigan, 353 
Kice-bird, 387 
Richardson's grouse, 35a 
■iing-neck duck, 187, 188, 361 
<ing-neck plu-asanl, 58, 348 
:<ing-neck plover, 315, 377 
hiing-plover, 307 
:\io ( iiande turkey, 4<> 



INDEX 



395 



River-ducks, 141 ; inotliotls of shoot- 
ing;, 204-207 

l<(jbin snipe, 296 

K(jck pt:irmi){:in, 353 

Koosevek, Kolfcrl, (/uoUd, 214 

Ross's snow-goosi;, 156, 157, 359 

I<ii<l(Iy-(luck, 194-196, 365 

Ruff, 374 

Rufl'cd-Krous*!, fc, 88, 350 ; range, 89 ; 
liabits, 90, 91, 95; field in(-rits, 91, 
92 ; feeding grounds, 94 

SaUINICS KUKFKD-aKUUSK, 60 

Sage-cock, 83 ; as food, 84, 85 ; liahits, 

85,86 
Sagogrouse. 354 
Salt-wat(rr niarsli hen, 384 
Salvin's Uol»-white, 108 
San I'edro i>:irtridge, 126, 355 
Sand-hill crane, 323, 324, 325, 383 
Sanderling, 296, 375 
Sandpipers, 283, 296, 297, 305, 375- 

377 
Saw-duck, 242 
Saw-bill duck, 243 
Scalcfl partridge, 107; range, 132; 

chestnut-bellied, 132 ; ditseribcd, 

13s. 354 

Scaup-duck, l86, 187, 361, 362 ; shoot- 
ing, 188 191 

Scoter duck, 199-201, 365 

Sea-ducks, 141; shooting, 161-170 

Sea saw-bill, 242 

Semi-pahnated plov(;r. 307, 315, 377 

Semi-pahnated sandpip<;r, 380 

Seton, tjualed, 283 

Setters compared with pointers, 14 

Shad-bird, 371 

Shad spirit, 371 

Shar|)-tailed grouse, 65, 350 ; r.T.ng(; of, 
73- 74 '• habits, 74-76 ; shooting, 76 
80; extermination of, 80, 81 

Sheldrake, 242 

Shields, Mr , quoted, 385 

Shooting, ICnglish and American meth- 
ods, 29-31 ; value of privileges in 
England, 62, 63; sea-ducks, i6i 170 ; 



river-ducks, 204-207 ; woodcock, 
257 261 ; bay-birds, 287 293 
Shore birds, 247 251 ; shocking, 287- 

293 
Shoveler rluck, 240, 370 
Snipe, 248, 267, 268, 269, 370, 371 ; 

shooting, 269-280 ; feeding grounds, 

273-275 ; flight, 276 
Snow-geese, 156, 157 
.Snowy picjver, 307, 315, 379 
S(jlitary sandpiper, 377 
Sooty grouse, 352 
Sora, 327, 332, 384 
Southwestern partridge, 132 
South wick, Mr. Sidney, quoted, 323 
Spaniels, 18, 260 
"Spectacled coot," 200 
Spectacled eider duck, 203 
.S|jike-bill duck, 241 
.Spike tail duck, 236 
Spoon-bill rlu(;k, 240 
Sjwtted sand|>iper, 376 
Sjjrague, \,. 'I'., quoted, 389 
Sprig-tail duck, 236, 237, 369 
Spruce-grouse, 100 ; stupidity, loi ; 

table (jualities, 102 
.Starjjiick, Mr. , 4 
Stellars duck, 203 
.Stilt sandjjiper, 376 
Stilts, 316, 372 
Straight-billed curlew, 299 
.Stuart- Wortley, Mr. A. J., quoted, 30 
.Surf-bird, 379 
•Surf-scoter duck, 200, 362 
Swallows, 334 
Swans, 140, 145, 147, 358 
Swimmers, 139 

Tai.I.k'I', Mr., quoted, 223 

'I'attlers, 299 

Teal, 225, 226, 367, 368 ; slujoting, 227- 

231 
Tell-tales, 300 
Texas Hob-white, 107, 356 
Thompson, Mr. J. U., quoted, iiy, 213 
Townsend's ptarmigan, 353 
Tree-ducks, 160, 360 



396 



INDEX 



Trumpeter swan, 145. 146, ^^58 
Turkeys. 46-50, 348 
Turner's ptarmigun. ^53 
Turnstone, 379 

L'riANn I'l.ovBK, 248, jSj ; shooting, 
JS4-3S6 

Vklvkt scotkk. aoi 
Virginia rail, 337, 3S4 

Waokks, 247 
Wandering tattler, 377 
W'eleh's ptarmigan. 105, 353 
Western bobolink, 3SS 
Western dowiteher, 371 
Western sandpiper 381 
Western willet, 303, 374 
Whimbrel, 304 
\\'histler duek, 193 
Whistling-snipe, 267 
Whistling swan. 145, 358 
•' White-belly," 350 
White-eheeked goose, 359, 
White erane, 323, 325, 326, 383 
White-crowned pigeon, 3S7 
White-fronteil dove, 3S7 
White-fronted goose, 154, 155, 360 
\\'hite-rumped sandpiper, 375 
White-tailed ptarmigan, 103, 352 
\\'hite-wing scoter duck, 199. 200 
White-winged dove, 346, 385 
White-winged scoter duck. 365 
NN'hooping crane, 323, 326, 383 
Wiilgeon. 237 : habits, 238, 369 



Wild-fowl, 139 ; migration, 140 ; abun- 
dance, 141, 142; destruction of, 14a, 
143 

Wild-goose, 14S, 358 300 ; decoys, 
14S, 140 ; habits, 140 ; shooting, 150, 

Willi pigeon, 339 ; abundance of, 340 ; 
destruction, 341, 34a, 344; shooting, 
343-344 

Wild swan, 145-147 

Wild turkey, 46, 348 ; range, 46, 47 ; 
shooting, 48, 49; disappearance of, 
50 

Willels, 21)4, 303, 374 

Willow ptarmigan, 353 

Wilson's phalarope, 318, 319, 381 

Wilson's plover, 315, 379 

Wilson's snipe, 268, 370 

Wnious Point Club, 26 

Wood-cock, 348, 25a 256, 372 ; shoot- 
ing, 257-261 ; auntuil disappear- 
ance, 361-263; gromuls. 263, 264; 
migration, 266, 267 

Wood-duck, 233, 234, 368; shooting, 
234, 235 ; destruction of, 335 

Wood-grouse, 61, 64 

\\'ood-snipe, 2^7 

Yki.I.Ovv-i.kgs, 294, 299-302, 374, 375 

Yellow rail, 3S3 

Yelpers, 299 

Yorke, F. H., i]ii.'t,\l, 3S6 

Yucatan Rob-white, 108 

Zknaiha dovk, 3S7 



i 



BIRD PDRTRAITS 



PLATE I 




PHKA>AMS AND TUFiKEV. 
Liiglish Pheasant. 2. Mongolian I'heasant. 

3. Wild Turkey. 



PLATE II 




4. Prairie-griiuse. 

6. Sharp-tailed Orouse. 

8. Dusky grouse. 



GROUSE. 



5. Heatli-heii. 
7. Ruffed-)»r<juse. 
9. Canada-grouse. 



I'l.ATI'. Ill 




lo. I'tariiilKan, Winter. 



II. l'larini«.'«ii, Summer. 



PL A IK IV^ 




PAklklDGES. 



13. .S(.alefJ-nartrifl«e. 
15. Oambcrs I'artri(J;{c. 
17. Bob-white. 



14. (Jalifornia PartriHKC. 

16, (Jalifurnia .M'liiiitaiii I'artriflj{e. 

18. MastsiMia Partridge. 



I'l.ATK V 




.). Wliistliiii' Swan. 



JO. I riimpetcr Swan. 





I'l.AIJ. V'l 


21 


22 




^X 


23 



21, Citi klirii; (jooiie. 



f;KKSK, 



33. ( aiia'lu '<>«j»c. 



22. Hllt(.llill» 'yO</«. 



PLATE VII 




GLLSE AND liKANT, 



24. Black Brant. 
26. Emperor Goose. 



23. Brant-goose. 

27. koss bnow-goose. 



PLATE VIII 




GEESK AND TREE-DUCKS. 



28. Lesser Snow-goose. 
30. White-fronted Cliwse. 
32. Fulvous Tree-duclc. 



29. Blue Goose. 

31. fireater Snow-goose. 

33. Black-bellied Tree-duck. 



PLATE IX 




35. King-neck Duck. 
37. Scaup-duck. 



SKA-DUCKS. 
34. Canvas-back Duck. 



36. Labrador Duck. 
38. Lesser Scaup-duck. 



PLATE X 




SEA-DL'CKS AND MERGANSERS. 



39. Red-head Duck. 

41. Surf-scoter. 

43. Red-breasted Merganser. 



40. Buffle-head Duck. 
42. Hoiided Merganser. 
44. American Merganser. 



ri.ATi': XI 




46. I.ciiiK-tail Duck. 
48. Ruddy-duck. 



si:a dicks. 

45. American ( Jdldt'ii-tye. 



47. Ilnrlcquiii Duck. 
4>^. .Masked Duck. 



PLATE XII 




51. King Eider. 



SEA-DUCKS. 
50. White-winged Scoter. 



52. American Eider. 



PLATE XIII 



^'^ 


•-^ 


53 


54 


65 


56 


i'' 




67 


68 



53. Blue-winged Teal. 
55. Dusky-duck. 
57. Wood-duck. 



KIVKK-DUCKS. 



54. Cinnamon Teal. 
56. Green-winged Teal. 

55. Mallard. 



PL ATI-: XIV 




1<I\KK-1)LCKS. 



59. Widgeon (Female). 
61. SpriK-tail, or Pintail. 
63. Gadwall, 



60. Widgeon. 
62. Shoveler. 
64. Gadwall (Female). 



PLATE XV 




65. Wilson's Snipe. 

67. Jiartramian Sandpiper. 

6g. American VV'oudcock. 



SHOkK lilkU.S. 



66. Knot. 

68. Duwitcher. 

70. Pectoral Sandpiper. 



PLATi: XVI 




71. Hudsonian CJodwit. 
73. Black-necked Stilt. 



SIlokK l;iRI)S. 



72. Marbled Uodwit. 
74. American Avocet. 



PLATI-: X\'II 




75. HudsDiiian Curlev 
77. Pacific (jofjwit. 



SHOkK I'.IKDS. 



76. Kskimo Curlew. 
78. Lung-billed Curlew. 



PLATK .Win 




3o. Ruflf. 



SFTORE IMRDS. 
79. Willet. 



81. Greater Yellow-legs. 



PLATE XIX 




83. Sanderling. 
85. Stilt Sandpiper. 



SHORE BIRDS. 
82. VVhite-rumped Sandpiper. 



Baird's Sandpiper. 
Purple Sandpiper. 



PL ATI-: XX 




SHI IKK 



IKl) 



87. Spotted Sandpiper. 
88. Huff-breasted Sandpiper. 89. Ked-backed Sandpiper. 

90. Solitary Sandpiper. 91. Wandering Tattler. 



PLATE XXI 




SHORE BIRDS. 



92. Relted Piping Plover. 
94. Semipalmated Plover. 
96. Pacific Golden Plover. 



93. Piping Plover. 

95. Black-bellied Plover. 

97. American Golden Plover. 



IM.ATIC XXII 




siioKi; liikD.s. 



98. Siiipwv I'lnvcr. 
icx>. Surf l)ir<l. 
loj. Mouiiliiin I'luvcr. 



<)<). Wllsr.irH I'lovcr. 
lui. I Hill k 'l'iirii'<l>>nc. 
103, Kudily Tiirnslone. 



PLATE XXIII 




104. Least Sandpiper. 
106. Aleutian Sandpiper. 
108. Western Sandpiper. 



SHORE F.IRDS. 



105. Semipalmated Sandpiper 
107. Curlew Sandpiper, 
log. Wilson's Phalarope. 





PLATE XXIV 


no 






V 


111 


112 


^ 








113 


114 



III. Red Phalarope. 

113. American Oyster-catcher, 



SHORE BIRDS, 
no. Northern Phalarope. 



112. Kill-deer Plover. 
114. Black Oyster-catcher. 



PLATE XXV 




PLATE XXVI 




CRAXK. 
117. Whouping Crane. 



PLATE XXVII 




RAILS 



ii8. Black-rail. 

120. Sora. 

122. Clapper-rail. 



119. Yellow-rail. 
121. Virginia-rail. 
123. King-rail. 



I'T.ATI-: X.WIII 




PIGEONS AND DOVES. 



124. Oround-duve. 
126. MourniiiK Dove. 
128. Passenger Pigeon. 



125. White-winged Dove. 
J27. ked-billed Pigeon. 
129. liand-tailed Pigeon. 



PLATE XXIX 




PIGEONS, DOVES, AND BOBOLINK. 



130. Zenaida Dove. 

132. White-fronted Dove. 

134. Inca Dove. 



131. Blue-headed QuaW Dove. 
133. White-crowned Pigeon. 
135. Bobolink. 



SCRIBNER'S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS 



By HARRIET L. KEELER 

Our Northern Shrubs 

With 205 photographic plates and 35 pen-and-ink draw- 
ings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 net (postage 16 cents). 

This book is a companion volume to Miss Keeler's very popular "Our 
Native Trees " and will prove equally helpful to the amateur. It is designed 
not only for the general lover of nature, who wishes to identify and learn the 
habits of our northern shrubs, but for those who are engaged in beautifying 
public parks, boulevards, roadways, school yards, and railway stations. 

The photographic plates are an important feature, making the identifica- 
tion of shrubs easy. 



Our Native Trees 

AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM 

With 178 full-page plates from photographs, and ^62 text- 
drawings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 net. 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 

C. S. SARGENT, Professor of Arboricultiire in Harvard University : 

" Of such popular books the latest and by far the most interesting is by 
Miss Harriet L. Keeler. . . . Miss Keeler's descriptions are clear, com- 
pact, and well arranged, and the technical matter is supplemented by much 
interesting and reliable information concerning the economical uses, the 
history, and the origin of the trees which she describes." 

" The value of a book of this character is not only enhanced by its 
numerous illustrations, but positively dependent upon them, those in the 
present volume being of unusual interest ; and the book . . . is one which 
should add new interest to the coming Summer for many to whom nature is 
practically a sealed book, as well as heighten the pleasure of others to whom 
she has long been dear." — N. Y. Times Saturday Revieiv. 



SCRIBNER'S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS 



By H. E. PARKHURST 

Trees, Shrubs, and Vines 

OF THE NORTH-EASTERN UNITED STATES 

With over 250 illustrations, maps, etc. ;^ i. 5 o «,?/ (postage 
12 cents). 

A general account and explicit botanical details of all the native trees, 
shrubs, and vines of this large area, as well as the most important of foreign 
origin. 

It is especially designed for those who have never studied botany, the 
plants being so classified that, with the assistance of a few pages on plant 
structure and without a microscope, the non-botanical reader can easily 
familiarize himself with all the tree, shrub, and vine life around him, including 
those, native and foreign, everywhere decorating our lawns. 



How to Name the Birds 

Illustrated. i6mo, leather, ^i.oo net. 

" Mr. Parkhurst has compiled a convenient pocket guide to the birds of 
the New England States, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He has 
greatly simplified the common system of bird classification for the beginner by 
omitting such details as are invisible at field range, and by emphasizing such 
characteristics as color, size, and time of appearance."— ^^z^/szy of Reviews. 



Song Birds and Water Fowl 

Illustrated. 12 mo, $1.50 net. 

" It will be welcome to the many friends his former book made. The 
illustrations are the finest that have ever been printed in this country in black 
and white, with the exception of another series by the same artist." 

— The Nation. 



The Birds' Calendar 

Illustrated. i2mo, $1.50 7iet. 

'A charming book. It contains a year's individual experience." 

—The Outlook. 



SCRIBNER'S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS 
By ERNEST THOMPSON SETON 

Lives of the Hunted 

Illustrated by more than 200 drawings by the author. 80th 
thousand. ^1.75 «^/ (postage 15 cents). 

CONTENTS 

Krag-, the Kooteiiay Ram. Chink ; the Development of a Pup. 

A Street Troubadour, bein.a; the Ad- Tlie Kangaroo Rat. 

ventures of a Cock Sparrow. Tito; The Story of the Coyote that 
Johnny Bear. Learned How. 

The Motlier Teal and the Overland Why the Chickadee Goes Crazy Once 

Route. a Year. 

" Surely no more entertaining: book could be devised for children of all 
ages."—C/iica£-o Evetiing Post. 

" The breadth of Mr. Thompson-Seton's sympathy is the finest charm of 
his work."— ^^w^i- Repplier. 



Wild Animals I Have Known 

With 200 illustrations from drawings by the author. 105th 
thousand. Square i2mo, $2.00. 

" It should be put with Kipling and Hans Christian Andersen as a classic." 

— The Atlienceum. 
"Mr. Thompson is nowdrawing; the best mammals of any American artist. 
• . . This is artistic fidelity to nature in high degree. . . . Nothing of 
equal simplicity could be more effective than these little marginal oddities and 
whimsies. The book is thoroughly good, both in purpose and execution." 

—New York Eveniiig Post. 



The Trail of the Sandhill Stag* 

Written and illustrated with 60 drawings. Square i2mo, 
$1.50. 

" Bliss Carman, speaking of ' The Trail of the Sandhill Stag,' says : ' I had 
fancied that no one could touch " The Jungle Book " for a generation at least, 
but Mr. Thompson has done it. We must give him pbce among the young 
masters at once.' And we agree with Mr. Carman." — The Bookman. 



SCRIBNER'S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS 
By FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS 

According to Season 

TALKS ABOUT THE FLOWERS IN THE ORDER OF 
THEIR APPEARANCE IN THE WOODS AND FIELDS 

With 32 full-page illustrations in colors, from drawings by 
Elsie Louise Shaw, ^1.75 ?iet (postage 14 cents). 

" It is a privilege to own such a book for its artistic charm, and its con- 
tents well deserve their setting." — The Dial. 

" The charm of this book is as pervading and enduring as is the charm of 
nature." — N. Y. Times. 

" Delightful talks upon the beauty of the changing year, and the parts 
contributed to such pleasures by forest, grove, and stream." — TAe Interior. 



By MRS. WILLIAM STARR DANA 

(FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS) 

How to Know the Wild 
Flowers 

With 48 colored plates and new black and white drawings, 
enlarged, rewritten, and entirely reset. Sixtieth 
thousand. Crown 8vo, ^2.00 net. 

" I am delighted with it. . . . It so exactly the kind of work needed 
for outdoor folks who live in the country but know little of systematic botany 
that it is a wonder no one has written it before." — Hon. Theodore Roosevelt. 

"It is not often that a book so suggestive of pleasure, pure and simple, 
comes our way. So far as we recall books on flowers, it is the first that makes 
country walks an intelligent joy for those who know nothing of botany and 
who have eyes to see and minds to question." — The New York Times. 

" Every flower-lover who has spent weary hours puzzling over a botanical 
key in the effort to name unknown plants, will welcome this satisfactory book, 
which stands ready to lead him to the desired knowledge by a royal road." 

—The ATation. 



.^ -% N-^ 



'\ 















-- ^^ * ■' s o ^ ,0- ^C ^ o^^ <^. '. 



,vf/ « V.' ^ 
























, • ■%_ ^ -w^^ .^,.,^' ^- ^ .■ . i.> _^ '^ ^^ ,>::i^ 






'^^. v\^^^^'' A:^> 



.^ aV _^\'"r/^- 



' '->. 



\^ ^-'x-. 



vV ''K 



vO< 



•,\-' 



•*^, 



,0 o 



.-■^ 



A^^ •^^. 



-^^ V^' 



,,0 O^ 



'^^ V 



-6" 



A' .y. 



'1^ .sX' 



.A -n^ 



'■>. V 



-^^ 



"/- V 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



lili: III 

0602911 240 A 



